What's everybody playing?

[Frag Maniac]

Yes there are 3 campaigns but I have to say, the other 2 were kinda lackluster and knocked the steam out of the game a little bit. These things happen on such a low budget title but there's no denying that there's a lot to be desired here. Maybe they'll get enough sales and once Ebola 4 comes out they have more resources to work the kinks out of it. The game is there though.

I am playing Metro Exodus. It is a story driven action adventure stealth survival horror game (yes all of them) with a sufficient budget that doesn't really bring anything new to the table, but it is a solid experience. The characters are great and the atmosphere is fairly rich. While the game play is not very deep, there's enough crafting and customization options to keep it interesting.

The game has sold 6 million copies since its release and one of the the developers has recently died fighting for Ukrainian independence so my condolences there.

I took a look of some full game walkthroughs of Ebola 1 and 2, and Ebola 3 is quite a step up in everything from graphics, to level design, to variety of level design and gameplay. The series seems to have a cult following that is growing.

Yeah I've played all the Metro games. Regarding Exodus though, it's kind of funny how my first reaction was I didn't like it as much as the first two, but then I went back to it and played it again, and this time it felt much more immersive to me. The only thing I can explain would cause that is being in a bad mood for one reason or another and expecting it to play more like Metro Last Light Redux, but oddly enough, this time I was glad it had it's own design.

I think part of it though was I was more familiar with it this time around, and knew how to prepare better for some of the tougher battles. I also like how there's a decent amount of extended gameplay with the Sam's Story and The Two Colonels DLCs, both of which are pretty good.

 

[KManX89]

I finally got around to playing Sonic Origins on the Switch. I started out with S3&K because, of course I did (it's by far my most played of all the classic Sonic games) and two things stuck out to me revisiting the game all these years later (besides the bugs):

1)the game is notably less fun actively searching for giant rings/blue sphere stages. When I was a kid, I remember blazing through all the stages and not really caring if I got all the Emeralds/"Good Ending" or not (gotta go fast as the Sonic X theme says). Luckily I've memorized a lot of the giant ring locations from all the playthroughs I've watched by now, though there's some stages I don't have them all down pat like Hydrocity Zone. Suffice to say it was a pain in the ass trying to find them there with all the moving platforms. 2)The S&K portion definitely has the best OST, especially now with the licensing issues over some stage music due to Michael Jackson's death. Some of the best stage music from the original Sonic 3 is now gone. Ice Cap Zone's theme got completely butchered, they done it dirty in Sonic Origins. It went from having arguably the best zone theme from the S3 half of the game to the worst.

I started out on Anniversary Mode just to ensure I get all the Super Emeralds and Hyper Sonic on my first revisit with old man hands all dem years later and for the Widescreen Mode (why they locked WS behind Anniversary/Noob Mode, I'll never know). For those of you who don't know what that is, you have infinite lives and can replay the blue sphere stages as many times as you want/need if you fail them (until you run out of Coins) and you don't lose Coins/lives when you die. It's as dumbed-down as it sounds. No more of this pussy sh!t after this playthrough, I promise.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Took a break from A Plague Tale Requiem (great game, so so optimization) to play one of the two titles I just bought, Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection. At first I thought I should have waited, as performance was pretty bad. The devs just came out with a pretty good performance patch though, and all is well now. Well, not quite ALL, it still has an annoying tendency to out of the blue require building shaders at the main screen, or it will still stutter some.

I had read the game only requires building shaders after a GPU driver change, but it did it today after yesterday not showing any shader building status on the main menu, and I'm on the same driver I used yesterday. It also takes quite some time for the game to complete this process. So be forewarned that this is a lingering problem, and I'm not sure the devs even see it as one, so it may never be fixed. Far too many games these days release with one kind of annoying quirk or another.

I know some players, in fact probably a lot of survival horror aficionados, don't really care for actiony shooters with over the top cinematic scenes, but these games also have a lot of good stealth opportunities, very good platforming, and a few decent (but not overly hard) puzzles along the way. The game worlds are done very well and breathtaking at times, and if you get nervous in high places, you'll no doubt have a bit of vertigo playing it like me.

The other game I bought is Scorn, which I'm told is more puzzle than shooter oriented, which takes place in an H. R. Giger style setting. I have not installed or played any of it yet, but will probably try it soon.

 

[Ikawaru]

Having some mindless fun on 'RE:Verse'.

Also, playing a wonderful little survival horror gem called 'Signalis', where you're on a derelict ship on in outer space on some lost planet and you must find a woman and also figure out what is going on and why the ship is busted and why all these robots are attacking. There are no male characters in this game, it's purely a femme affair. Really enjoying it despite the dated graphics (It's a brand new game just with a retro graphical theme) and it's a legit survival horror game with backtracking, limited inventory, ammo, and lots and lots of keycards and puzzles.

Enjoy

 

[Frag Maniac]

Also, playing a wonderful little survival horror gem called 'Signalis', where you're on a derelict ship on in outer space on some lost planet and you must find a woman and also figure out what is going on and why the ship is busted and why all these robots are attacking. There are no male characters in this game, it's purely a femme affair. Really enjoying it despite the dated graphics (It's a brand new game just with a retro graphical theme) and it's a legit survival horror game with backtracking, limited inventory, ammo, and lots and lots of keycards and puzzles.

From your description of that game, it reminded me of a trailer I'd seen recently. Turns out the game I was thinking of though is Routine, which was announced 10 years ago, binned, then put back on development status recently. Still no word yet when it will finally release, but it looks promising.

After looking into Signalis and realizing it is a Japanese anime style cell shaded game, I sort of lost interest.

 

[Ikawaru]

After looking into Signalis and realizing it is a Japanese anime style cell shaded game, I sort of lost interest.

Trust me, if it was Japanese style anime I would not even bother. If anything it is Chinese style and the protagonist reminds me of Ada Wong, not some Japanese anime bimbo.

Big difference there, China and Japan have pretty much hated each other since the 1930's.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Trust me, if it was Japanese style anime I would not even bother. If anything it is Chinese style and the protagonist reminds me of Ada Wong, not some Japanese anime bimbo.

Big difference there, China and Japan have pretty much hated each other since the 1930's.

I was talking more about the way the models are stylized than the ethnicity of the characters or setting. I only looked at a screenshot showing the main character, so I never looked at any settings, as I don't care to play such type of games. It looks to have the same style eyes and hair as in Japanese anime, just saying. At any rate, I don't see a history lesson needed or necessary for a mere comment on graphics style. No need to point out the obvious. LOL

 

[Ikawaru]

Unfortunately, 'Signalis', to me, feels like it's starting to lose some of its magic sometime after the first boss fight. I mean the plot is one dimensional and the gameplay is starting to feel a bit repetitive. Funny how it's getting an 'Overwhelmingly Positive' rating on Steam at the time of this writing but I shouldn't be surprised at this point, LOL.

However, it is an effort at survival horror and I believe such efforts should noted and logged, especially from Indie developers.

So far 'Ebola 3' remains my favorite modern Indie survival horror game.

 

[Frag Maniac]

So far 'Ebola 3' remains my favorite modern Indie survival horror game.

I still haven't gone back and finished that game yet. In fact I had to uninstall it just to make room on my NVMe drive for Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection. I set the save aside to pick up where I left off when I reinstall it though.

 

[Jonipoon]

Trust me, if it was Japanese style anime I would not even bother. If anything it is Chinese style and the protagonist reminds me of Ada Wong, not some Japanese anime bimbo.

Sure... a game developed by two Germans who took inspiration from the fifth-generation era of consoles which was completely dominated by Sony's PS1 and Nintendo 64, and additional aesthetic influence from European painters, with a slight touch of H.P. Lovecraft thrown in.... that's certainly Chinese style, alright.

Seriously, you're turning almost every thread in this forum into unwarranted Chinese patriotism or anti-Western propaganda as soon as you get the chance. I really don't know what's your problem. Just enjoy a game for what it is.

 

[Ikawaru]

I really don't know what's your problem.

You going off topic to attack me head on means you're the one with problem, Mr. Poon. It's the internet, if you aren't a little eccentric, you aren't doing it right.

Anywho, I am strangely addicted to 'RE:Verse' for some reason. I mean on paper should be a boring arena shooter but the way the game plays is somehow fun and engaging. It's a perfect time killer if you're bored. Relatives play phone games to kill time, I play 'RE:verse'.

 

[Frag Maniac]

You going off topic to attack me head on means you're the one with problem, Mr. Poon. It's the internet, if you aren't a little eccentric, you aren't doing it right.

Except it sounded to me, the one you aimed it at, a bit assuming and pedantic, not just eccentric. For whatever reason, something or someone missing in his life, disgruntled about something, a well known member on another forum I chat on, whom was one of the main contributors thread wise, just blew up over an assumption about another regular member whom was just trying to say something good about what he'd just said. It wasn't anything patronizing like he took it, and just said, "I'm not one that is admired, I know hollow flattery when I see it".

The result was a staff member merely suggested he take some time off, the thread was closed, and he has now apparently left for good, leaving a huge hole in the forum, which isn't nearly as active now. That's how presuming to know too much about what one says on forums can affect a chat community. Let's not let that happen here please. I value most here and the opinions we share, but let's face it, none of us are psychic.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Been a while since anyone posted on what they're playing, so I thought I'd add an update to my previous such post. I am still playing A Plague Tale Requiem, now on Hard mode with no HUD, reticle, or upgrades, and Lockon set to Low. I'm a little more than 1/3 way done, and so far so good. That is not to say there weren't a few places I had to reload checkpoints a few times where you have to sling kill enemies as they advance, but overall it's gone better than expected. The game is also running much better now after having updated W10 to 22H2 with the performance and reliability updates that came after, and updated my MB BIOS to the last performance and stability update. It dips at least 5 FPS less now in the worst areas, but mostly it just plays smoother, with only very subtle hitching now and then in transition areas, vs frequently. These are no doubt asset loading points, as it usually happens in transition areas.

I also finished playing both Uncharted 4 and The Lost Legacy on Crushing mode, which is hella tough in some battles. I almost wish I had waited for the1.3 patch, but I plan to go back and play both on Crushing again, this time with the latest patch.

Here's a few battles I captured of Uncharted 4 on Crushing.

New Devon Avery's House Battle

Avery's Descent Cave Battle

No Escape Shipwreck Battle

I was in the process of trying to capture a few battles from The Lost Legacy, but the game kept crashing, a problem that got far worse after the 2nd patch. Hopefully Iron Galaxy, a team that has devs whom worked on some Uncharted console productions, has learned something about porting to PC. I noticed Naughty Dog themselves will be developing The Last of Us Remake for PC though.

I highly recommend A Plague Tale Requiem, though as far as I know, it's not received it's promised RT update yet. I'm hoping that update will include some performance tweaks, but it's mostly needed on older hardware like mine from what I've read. It really plays far better for me now with the aforementioned updates, even on all Ultra settings. This game is a must play for anyone whom likes stealth gameplay with puzzles, unique combat, and a well written horror based story.

I also bought Evil West, another Focus Entertainment title like A Plague Tale Requiem, but done by Flying Wild Hog. It just released yesterday, and is already getting a Very Positive rating on Steam.

 

[Ikawaru]

Evil West

Looks interesting and the system requirements are very reasonable, but also concerned it could just devolve into a mindless linear RE4-style romp through the hordes. Is there enough depth, customization, and diverse playstyles to keep it intriguing or is it more arcady? 'RE:Verse' right now fulfills my online shooter cravings. A lot of people especially "Professional gaming journalists" (LOL oxymoron if there ever was one) and even long time fans are dumping on it but I find it to be a suitable time waster.

Is it me or is the 'Western' cowboy theme gaining in popularity lately? It's not really my favorite genre by any stretch but if I'm gonna spend $50 on on a Wild West style shootemup it better be pretty damn unique. I have similar feelings about 'Mafia' type games. Sure, I could bite, but you better make it well presented or it just strikes me as straight up criminal pulp like GTA or something.

I would love to play 'A Plague Tale Requiem', that looks right up my alley, but there's no way my laptop can handle that beast if even the latest consoles are having issues with its performance. The new 'Evil Dead' game and also a few other games purely designed with next gen consoles in mind are also having similar issues. Glad to see they're working the kinks out of it though, so many of these titles are burning up GPU's with overheating and bad performance.

I just wish those damn 4060TI laptops would release already so I can take the plunge with all these promising next gen titles!

 

[Frag Maniac]

Looks interesting and the system requirements are very reasonable, but also concerned it could just devolve into a mindless linear RE4-style romp through the hordes. Is there enough depth, customization, and diverse playstyles to keep it intriguing or is it more arcady? 'RE:Verse' right now fulfills my online shooter cravings. A lot of people especially "Professional gaming journalists" (LOL oxymoron if there ever was one) and even long time fans are dumping on it but I find it to be a suitable time waster.

Is it me or is the 'Western' cowboy theme gaining in popularity lately? It's not really my favorite genre by any stretch but if I'm gonna spend $50 on on a Wild West style shootemup it better be pretty damn unique. I have similar feelings about 'Mafia' type games. Sure, I could bite, but you better make it well presented or it just strikes me as straight up criminal pulp like GTA or something.

I would love to play 'A Plague Tale Requiem', that looks right up my alley, but there's no way my laptop can handle that beast if even the latest consoles are having issues with its performance. The new 'Evil Dead' game and also a few other games purely designed with next gen consoles in mind are also having similar issues. Glad to see they're working the kinks out of it though, so many of these titles are burning up GPU's with overheating and bad performance.

I just wish those damn 4060TI laptops would release already so I can take the plunge with all these promising next gen titles!

Anything Flying Wild Hog does is usually pretty arcade (Hard Reset, Shadow Warrior). So I assume this one is like Hard Reset, but with a more occult than robotic theme. What drew me to it are the decent graphics and interesting ways to kill. That's probably a bit hypocritical of me considering I've been known to call the new Hitman series a repetitive ways to kill demo, but honestly, if it's not to my liking I can always refund it with anything less than 2 hours played.

 

[Ikawaru]

I've been known to call the new Hitman series a repetitive ways to kill demo,

I have to say this is fairly true, whilst I did enjoy the more open nature of the new 'Hitman' trilogy (Every map felt like a fairly large and diverse setpiece), I do think the older games like 'Silent Assassin', 'Contracts', and 'Blood Money' had much better atmosphere, style, and music. The latter being probably the biggest one, it is just is not the same without Jesper Kyd doing the OST!

'Blood Money' really got me good and I became almost a cult-like fan of the series once I've played it, second only to 'Resident Evil'. Why I don't put these games before survival horror is because the series really doesn't have an arc or good story. 'Hitman' lore is pretty stupid to be honest whilst survival horror games are usually much better at getting me engrossed in the story and characters.

I do hope they keep making the games though, bring Kyd back, and try to recreate the atmosphere of the older games.

I always considered survival horror my primary franchise, and 'Hitman' the other, darker side to my gaming habits. It's human nature and the laws of the cosmos to have duality in everything! Good vs. Evil, West culture vs. Eastern culture, North vs. South, etc. etc.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I do hope they keep making the games though, bring Kyd back, and try to recreate the atmosphere of the older games.

Ditto on that, but I fear they've fallen in love with their new audience that seems to love this new play it over and over trying different tactics style. I liken them to the GTA fanatics that love to spend hours just horsing around.

 

[Ikawaru]

So, uh, anyone playing 'The Callisto Protocol'? I'm not hearing great things about it but would like some community feedback on it regardless.

 

[Frag Maniac]

So, uh, anyone playing 'The Callisto Protocol'? I'm not hearing great things about it but would like some community feedback on it regardless.

I'm waiting for it to be properly optimized. It has very similar problems to the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection PC port. Great content wise, but horrible shader compiling problems. Word is on 2nd play through you don't get the compiling stutters because they're already compiled by then, but that ruins horror style games to play it the first time with constant stutters.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Started a play through of Spider-Man Miles Morales. Some fun combat in this one, and it runs a bit better than Spider-Man Remastered, perhaps because it takes place in winter, so no leaves on all the trees. I thought Miles seemed a bit overpowered at first, but this one has some enemies that use an energy source called Reform, and they have pretty powerful skills and weapons.

Also started another play through of Monster Energy Supercross 4, this time on Realistic mode. This game is noticeably harder than their last one, and some tracks are tougher to ride too. So far so good though, and I'm even wondering if I was worried too much that I wouldn't be able to beat it on this mode. The tracks you start out with in these games are usually easier to ride though, so no telling how it will go when I get to the tough ones.