Reply With QuoteOriginally Posted by nicked
Dwarf Fortress finally released on Steam yesterday, so I've been playing it most of today.
It looks great, but there's annoying input lag on directional input that gets really tiring after a while. Of course, that might be down to me playing on Linux, as the Linux version isn't done yet, so I'd be interested in hearing what other say.
I'd also forgotten how many quality-of-life features DF is missing, especially when compared to its many imitators. The biggest one is probably the absence of any type of clone tool, so instead of being able to say, place multiple beds at once, I have to issue the whole command chain for each and every bed.
But still, it's DF, and DF does things that none of its clones have ever managed.
Everything else relies on a tech tree to represent progress, the end result of which being every device is made by the developers and then dished out to the player. There's no inventiveness on the player's behalf.
Oxygen Not Included comes close, but even there, you can't create the astonishing machines you can in DF, thanks to its deep physics simulation.
Minecart shotguns, aquifer power generators, waterfall happiness generators, obsidian factories, flood traps, pitfalls, giant cave spider silk farms, baby drowners and suicide chambers, the list goes on, and the limit is your imagination.
The closest game I've seen to get to the procedural openness of Dwarf Fortress is Caves of Qud, which is also one of my favorite games of the last half decade. It's not quite as open ended in the sense that it's still at its heart a roguelike RPG where you're on an adventure through procedurally created dungeons in this world, but in terms of what you can craft and do and the challenges you face, the systems involved are about as complex. It also has much bettern QOL than Dwarf Fortress in terms of making a good experience for the player, and you have a really broad goal to chase after.
That's a bar you can only get under on purpose, lol.
Caves of Qud! That's my favorite roguelike. The worldbuilding is superb, supported with numerous tiny details like water being a currency, and the depth of interaction of its system surpasses Nethack's. None of my characters have survived to the lategame yet, sadly.
Elden Ring - after giving up on it 80 hours in, I've now returned to the Crumbling Fazulah (or whatever) and getting my ass kicked by Maliketh. Got my ass kicked so much I decided to just give up and go roaming the world, finishing off bosses I'd passed earlier, leveling up. The sheer amount of content in this does a lot to make sure you never feel stuck on a certain boss like you might on some other Souls games.
Portal - replayed this for maybe the 5th or 6th time, with the RTX upgrade this time! Looks pretty! Still a brilliant game.
Star Drift Evolution - this is a really nice n cheap art of rally-like. Not much to look at, but the drifting feels incredibly satisfying.
Amid Evil - yeah, it's nice, but I'm more and more coming to the realization that I don't enjoy hyper fast boomer shooters.
More Dakar Desert Rally - Vroom vroom! Look at my fast car!
That game looks awesome, i may have to snag it when it's discounted.
You might dig it! The challenge being as much about navigation as it is about handling your vehicle certainly makes it feel different from other rally games I've played.
@Jason, you can also try its predecessor to get a feel for it, and it'll be cheaper in the meantime. Great game, once you get used to the orienteering.
Done with Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which is a fun, smaller open-world slice that is very enjoyable if you like (or don't mind) the Marvel template and you want something enjoyable but not too deep. The combat is enjoyable and fits Spider-Man as much as the Arkham series' combat fits Batman. It's also nice how you can approach most fights as a stealth puzzle to begin with but switch to all-out combat whenever you feel like it. The design of the various skills and upgrades adds to the fun, so there's a surprising range of combat styles you can go for in the end.
The game won't convince anyone who's truly tired of open-world games of this ilk, or of Marvel, but if you like these games as long as they don't turn into an 80+ hour slog, Insomniac Games knows how to make them enjoyable.
BTW, I got started on Somerville, which is nice enough, but it's not grabbing me as much and as immediately as Inside did (which had the same creative lead, I believe). There was a streamlined simplicity to how Inside played that worked very well; Somerville opens things up a bit more, but not in particularly interesting ways (at least not so far), so that the game lacks the clarity and to-the-point-ness of Inside. But hey, I've only played the game for about an hour so far, so who knows what lies ahead.
Mostly? Stuff that ain't good enough. It's in thrall to Another World, but it's just not as interesting or polished enough.
Finally got around to playing the Simulation difficulty in Dakar Desert Rally, which makes the game more challenging in some good ways: 1 hour long races!, but also in one very frustrating way: speed limits. The Pro difficulty has these speed zones where you have to go under 90km/h or get a penalty and they're easily the most irritating parts of those races. Well, in Simulation the whole dang race is like that. Keep the truck under 140km/h or get a penalty. This means that the entire 1 hour long race you gotta keep an eye on the speedometer, to make sure you're going as fast as possible without going over the limit. You also need to keep an eye on the roadbook to keep track of navigation, and one eye on the compass to make sure you're going in the right direction. If you've got an eye to spare after all that you should keep it on the road so you see where you're going. It's A LOT to deal with. Too much! Really wish they'd added some kinda speed-limiter to make it more manageable. For now the Pro difficulty is more enjoyable.
I didn't like the speed zones in the previous edition and also really wished for cruise control to just hold your speed at a certain level through those parts, but I could tolerate them. I couldn't imagine the entire race like that.
Finally finished the main story of The Witcher 3 the other day, just in time for the new update. I think it's... alright. I can see why the game is rated so highly and why people love it so much, and there is a lot to love indeed, but it's also a bit underwhelming in many ways.
The world of Witcher 3 is wonderfully large and full of things to explore, and there's always something to do. Tons of side quests and monster lairs and other points of interest, but a lot of this game really is more about quantity than quality. Luckily there are a lot of well designed quests as well that are worthy of all the praise, but I could do without all the filler content. You could easily cut at least 50 hours off the game. I dislike the crafting system and the gear hunting, it all feels quite pointless. I spent a significant amount of time rummaging through random people's belongings and looting mostly worthless junk. I never really seemed to need most of that stuff, and now I'm carrying enough food and alcohol in my inventory that I could throw a party for all Novigrad that lasts for a month. I can't even sell the stuff because all the merchants have run out of money.
The difficulty is all over the place. I started the game with the normal difficulty, but it offered no challenge at all, so I soon changed it to the Death March (the hardest difficulty level). Even that was somehow disappointingly easy, I think. A bit later I discovered the "enemy upscaling" option buried somewhere in the menus and I turned it on, which made things a little more challenging and much more enjoyable, but still... the game just is rather easy. And I say that without bragging one bit. I thought that I would need to take advantage of all the different potions and change my approach for different enemy types, but usually I just cast the Quen shield on myself, maybe apply some oil on my sword if I can be bothered to play around with the terrible inventory system, and then just repeatedly mash the dodge button until I get a chance to land a hit on the enemy. I occasionally use the bombs and other signs or potions, but only because it feels like a witchery thing to do.
The story of Witcher 3 is good though, and if I hadn't wasted so much time on doing all the side quests and exploring, then this might have been a much more cohesive experience. There are a lot of memorable moments and interesting characters, and all in all the main story is delivered in a pretty satisfying way. I'm now halfway through the Heart of Stone expansion which has been fun so far, and I've still got most of the Blood and Wine DLC to play. At this point, about 150 hours in, I just kind of wish that the whole thing was already over though.
Anyone else playing/played Tunic? It's really great, but I haven't seen any talk bout it here. I love the mechanic of gradually collecting pages of the old throwback SNES manual, so you can slowly learn how everything works (especially since the game tells you nothing from the start). One part Zelda, two parts Dark Souls, great exploration and satisfying combat. This is definitely going on my GOTY list.
While I haven't played it myself, I did watch the SGDQ run of it, and apparently you have access to every move (but not every item) from the beginning. The things you find to "unlock" the moves are merely pages from the ingame manual which explain how to do them. I wouldn't mind playing it at some point, but I just own so many other games I also want to play.
I certainly want to, but as of late I've been prioritizing my backlog. It'll probably be something I save for a post-semester reward to myself, like Hardspace: Shipbreaker was supposed to be this month. (The new PC is beefy, but I still need to buy a new controller.)
Got Sports Story, but it needs a little more time in the oven. Apparently a patch is in the works, so if you’re interested, I’d hold off for a bit.
Ah, thanks for trying it and reporting back, Aja.I'll hold back on getting it.
I have played the first 2 hours or so and not really noticed much regarding the reports of bugs or the stuttering issues, but I'm gonna wait for the patch also. But first impressions are that they are leaning more into the rpg side of things than the sports, so we shall see.
I was getting stuff like splash animations when I’m not in water, invisible walls, when I throw a golf ball next to a tree, the tree disappears, that sort of thing. Not game breaking, but it felt pretty unpolished, like I was playing it in early access. I gave it about an hour or so and then decided I’d rather wait. Maybe I’ll replay Golf Story in the meantime.
Can you guys recommend me a game with good writing and world building, the kind that's subtle, imaginative, and invites your curiosity? I'm currently playing Obduction and I love that game, but I'd like to play a game that has moderate, toned down action here and there.
I think as far as recent games go, Outer Wilds has to take the cake for that. That game set fire to my imagination at every turn, and the "galaxy" building, story, and integrating the gameplay into them were all fantastic. (Not Outer Worlds!, although that's another good one.)
Oh and Firewatch. It's a pure walking sim / adventure game, but the story had such a good flow and there were still interesting gameplay things for you to do. Mixed opinion about where it went (I was a fan), but I think universal acclaim about (at least the first half / most of) the ride to get there.
Sable has great worldbuilding and is definitely checks the boxes for subtle, imaginative, and inviting curiosity. It's also non-violent (mostly climbing, jumping, and logic puzzles; and you literally can't die), so that'd count as toned down action. It's minimalist, so the writing is also kind of minimal, and the animation, movement, and controls are wonky.
Maybe Control, although that's pretty action heavy, which I like.
And Red Dead Redemption 2 (too). Great world, great characters, great story! But still pretty action heavy.
Maybe Caves of Qud. Really great world. But that's as hardcore a roguelike as you'll find, so I wouldn't call it toned down, and it's ascii based.
I don't know if I can recommend Death Stranding. It checks those boxes but the story and entire presentation annoyed me so much. But the walking gameplay by itself, when the narrative just left you alone to do what you do, was all fantastic.
Last edited by demagogue; 29th Dec 2022 at 12:58.
Ah, I had almost forgotten about Outer Wilds! I started playing that two years ago and absolutely fell in love with it. It's one of the best games I've ever played (there are many best games, since many can't be compared to each other). But then stress and work sort of took that game away from me. Even if I had time, I didn't have the energy. I was sad because of that, because Outer Wilds is truly an enchanting game, almost dreamlike. Can a person be so tired that he cannot be enchanted by this gem? Apparently yes
But thanks for reminding me of this game
I loved that game, and in particular the way they did dialogue + how well the dialogue was written. Even though the story was simple, it was really well told. Another one that really grabbed me from this world was Soma. And also Talos Principle.Oh and Firewatch.
Sable looks very intriguing! I think I'll have to buy it. Thanks!Sable has great worldbuilding and is definitely checks the boxes for subtle, imaginative, and inviting curiosity.
I've played Control, but it feels a bit too non-subtle in ways many console games do. Its dance is well produced, but I'd like it to be a bit more natural, playful and creative. No need to control (no pun intended) the experience that much.Maybe Control, although that's pretty action heavy, which I like.
Having said that, I love our national treasure, Remedy, and greatly respect them. In fact a friend of mine works there, and I even showed them a scifi problem-solving game prototype I once made with Unreal Engine 4. They liked it.
Haven't played or looked at Death Stranding, but I'm under the impression that it too suffers from certain non-subtle symptoms many console games have. Can you describe what in particular about its presentation you didn't like?I don't know if I can recommend Death Stranding. It checks those boxes but the story and entire presentation annoyed me so much. But the walking gameplay by itself, when the narrative just left you alone to do what you do, was all fantastic.
Last edited by Qooper; 29th Dec 2022 at 13:20.
