What video games are you playing? What have you finished recently? What do you plan to play? - Video Game General Discussion Thread #24

I really wanted to like Broken Roads. On paper it looks fantastic: classic Fallout-style CRPG set in the Australian outback and centering heavily on moral philosophy. Somehow they managed to make it so incredibly boring, though. Couldn't even get through it. Loved the visual style, but the quests were so buggy and combat was amazingly dull. Bummer.

My favorite genres are 4X/Grand strategy and strategy games in general. I'm an armchair general by nature. At the moment, I'm just waiting for the next Stellaris and Total War: Warhammer 3 DLCs. Both DLCs might very well be some of the best ones in their respective series (based on what I have seen, read, and heard).

I'm also curious about Manor Lords, which releases this coming Friday in early access... though I'm not really in a hurry to play it. There arent that many games im waiting for in 2024 but Space Marine 2 is one of them.

I found a game called Starsector that I want to get in to. It's like an indie space exploration game.

Stardew Valley, just finished the community center for the first time

Jedi: Survivor, have like 2 achievements left to wrap up

Shadows of Doubt, procedurally generated detective game that’s really interesting

there's a They Are Billions-like called From Glory to Goo that I pirated and it's aight

Was still on my TWW2 bullshit, but stopped.

• Sisters of Twilight: Honestly kind of too easy, the WElf roster is fucking cracked. Morathi declared on me like T10 then suicided into my main stack, after which I took Quintex with ease. I think she's supposed to be the biggest threat. The biggest issue was that Clan Moulder kept trying to ally with me when we were supposed to be killing each other, silly rats.
• Markus Wolfhart: Started it and kinda stalled out. The Sacred Pools declared on me, but their starting stack is insane. Like 3 blessed temple guard that I have no way of dealing with, even with a double stack, because my starting units suck. Maybe I should just rush Spektazuma? All the bonus heroes are.. something. the WElf comes with Arrows of Kurnous which is a pretty good artillery strike but a foot knight doesn't seem like he'd be that strong, idk.

Went into my backlog and found I had a One Piece Dynasty Warriors game from some bundle years back, which is okay. The progression is kind of busted; it's based around defeating (or playing as) certain characters, who appear at fixed points in the story, so later upgrades can only be unlocked later in the campaign, which makes sense. The problem arises when you play the Dream Log mode, where basically anyone can appear at any point. I have unlocked so many random upgrades that I shouldn't have, but fortunately I don't think they make that much of a difference. The special objectives are also kind of frustrating. "Kill the boss of this mission with a special finisher attack" means I have to save it up well in advance, then not use it during the actual boss fight because so far every boss' final phase has invulnerability for like 30+ seconds.

Also played some stuff in TTS with friends: a round of Spirit Island as the Portal Hummingbird and my monthly crusade game of Warhammer 40k where I tabled my opponent (Scattered Supplies is now banned because it's a poorly-designed mission).

Finally beat Tears of the Kingdom, gonna go for all the shrines and the ancient hero set.

Splatfest this weekend, so some Splatoon.

Still need to beat Mario Wonder, want to get Another Code: Recollection and that Cuban game that just came out.

Helldivers is fixed now so I've been playing that with my friends most days. I also found this ancient 1994 economy game Gazillionaire that I liked as a kid. Also Alpha Centauri, which really deserves a remaster but the IP is split really frustratingly so it will likely never happen.

I'm looking for a good game where I can just kind of mindlessly build something, for when I don't want the stress of defending Super Earth. Something more functional-construction than Minecraft or Terraria, but also cozy. Dwarf Fortress has too many systems and quickly becomes overwhelming. Rollercoaster tycoon had a pretty good vibe, so did SimCity, but I hear Cities: Skylines is really complex and that might be too much without a good tutorial system. I just wanna build.

Along that same note, designing machines in Fusion 360 is one of my favorite video games right now.

I'm really excited for Shadow of the Erdtree.

There's supposed to be a huge Project Zomboid update being pushed this year that makes it look like a big game change. I'm really looking forward to that, actually.

playing gta 4, will play fallout 1-3 + new vegas because the show made me really wanna go back to them.

im insanely excited for path of exile 2. hopefully less feature bloat and back to the basics of a solid fun ARPG

I've been playing a lot of Helldivers 2 and I'm always playing Stellaris lol I keep wanting to play SimCity 3k, but I can't be assed to set it up on my steamdeck

I'm a huge Ogre Saga fan so naturally Unicorn Overlord shot up to the top of my list.... except for some reason I ended up restarting Triangle Strategy instead, after dropping it two years ago out of sheer disgust. I have such a love-hate relationship with that game, the gameplay is so good but the writing is fucking godawful. The worst part is some of the individual character writing actually is quite solid (the two old vets, the first recruitable brown lady, maybe a few others every now and then) but the main plot is essentially a wannabe GoT (show not books) with anime characteristics/a truly infantile understanding of politics and warfare, and the rampant Orientalism is absolutely gross. I'm just fast forwarding through cutscenes now (and there are SO fucking many) but it's still annoying enough that I might drop it again lol. Such a shame about the gameplay though if I do, it's genuinely among my favorites in the genre.

This weekend though I'm planning to do a quick run through Eiyuden Chronicle Rising in preparation for the main game's release. Very excited about that!

Also been doing a playthrough of Story of Seasons 1 since it has my fave art in the HM/SoS franchise, but it's very off and on.

I'm like 2 hours into Shadowrun: Hong Kong. I can't make heads or tails on it being good or not quite yet. It seems to have more Role playing elements out of the gate than Dragonfall, but I'm not liking the characters as much so far. Every character seems to be written as a wannabe tough guy thus far.

Been playing some modded Minecraft, enjoying automation and building a rail network.

Big fan of any game genre that allows for infinite expression of creativity. Sandbox games, roguelikes such as Noita, and special games like Path of Exile with deep customization.

Excited for Path of Exile 2, should come out roughly Q3 or Q4 next year with a beta/EA late this year.

edit: Forgot to mention that I'm also looking out for Dyson Sphere Program's next update, which will introduce customizable vehicles (presumably like motherships, since the player character is a mecha that is already capable of space flight) and space stations. I feel like the combat update is missing a bit more for it to really come into shape, currently it's all defense and no attacking. Also excited for Amazing Cultivation Simulator 2, but have no clue what it's gonna bring.

i think i'm addicted to project zomboid for the foreseeable future. i downloaded about 15 map mods and i cannot wait to get home tonight so i can explore kentucky

I've finally gotten around to fully playing through Bloodborne. I'm at the endgame of the base game now and just got to Ludwig in the DLC.

I've also come to the realization that I'm not sure I'll be able to make myself get far enough in Elden Ring to play the DLC when it comes out; this hyperaggressive parry-based combat system has ruined typical Souls games for me at this point.

Finished Persona 1 and its companion manga and thought it was brilliant.

Playing Harold Halibut and Persona 2 atm.

Looking forward to Bloodborne remaster and Silksong

Doing an axe-run in Elden Ring with a character named Raskolnikov. Going with Fia's story, but gonna do the Faith quest in NG+. Also got to play some Aba in GG Strive. I didn't get much into her in the old game, but I really love her in the new one. She may be one of her mains, and unlike Gio I don't need to tiger-knee.

Been playing Dark Cloud 2 and having some nostalgic fun.

I'm not sure what I'm looking forward to right now. Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth was the last thing I was really looking forward to. I'm sure something else will pop up soon that I'm excited for.

Playing stardew, balatro, dragons dogma 2, and hell divers.

Stardew I think about the most, hell divers and balatro scratch itches. Lately I've been craving playing factorio or satisfactory but I want to get more through stardew first.

I'm really looking forward to Hades 2 currently, and will likely drop everything to play the early access to completion when I can. Otherwise monster hunter wilds is due next year and it's the big thing I'm waiting for. Hopefully we get some news this summer.

Wasting time playing some mediocre early access games i downloaded until Eiyuden Chronicles comes out on Tuesday.

Played Infection Free Zone. Was okay, good for a single game and got bored pretty quick.

About to play No Rest For The Wicked today.

Playing some Fallout 4 recently and not sure if I'll stick with it. Even with mods adding basic stuff like ammo crafting and a health system more complex than "pause game and use six stimpaks at once to instantly heal to full from nothing" I'm still having to engage with Bethesda's writing and just ugh. I am at least having fun shooting people and having shots matter, and scrounging for supplies and actually progressing RPG skills.

Also playing Helldivers off and on

I'm crushing the challenge modes on Peggle Deluxe and Peggle Nights. Also trying to match two watermelons in Suica Game. Puzzle games FTW

I've been playing rimworld again since the anomaly dlc came out. I haven't really engaged with the new content yet though, I've been having fun just making a vampire base. Usually I set up pretty nice colonies but this time there is more blood bags and cannibalism. I'm looking forward to the point where the hospitality mod is updated for 1.5 so that my pawns can surreptitiously feed on guests.

And definitely hades 2 is on the list. The original of that game helped introduce my child to Greek myth and the concept of the soul. I'm pumped for the second.

Last week I've been playing the single player campaign in Warcraft III Reforged.

Games I'm looking forward to:

• STALKER 2
• Slay The Spire 2
• Hades 2
• Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

Good year for sequels

m2tw broken crescent campaign: nobody expects the Kushan Turnaround

as Ghazni you begin in Gandhara with the Ghorids bearing down across the Khyber to finish you off & drive into India, as irl. but i took my army up a pass north of the Punjab up into Khotan (which is probably really difficult if not impossible in the 12th century, but its in the game). take over Khotan and Kashgar, now i'm coming around thru Ferghana & will be able to hit the Ghorids in Tokharistan while their armies are taking my stuff in India.

its very unorthodox and unfeasable outside a game but the idea of a dynasty in the Hindu Kush which conventionally flows southward and terminates in/conquers Gandhara & northern India, turning around and redoing the circuit is hilarious. if it goes to plan there will be a stage where i've completely reversed starting positions with Ghorids relocated to Gandhara while i own Ghor

I've been playing Front Mission(1st, DS) cause oh man Front Mission. From Valkyria Chronicles to Shining Force Gaiden to X-Com EU & 2 to Fallout 1's combat to Fire Emblem Awakening & Fates, I have finally realised that I have SRPG brainworms. I also have mech brainworms still so like, picking off a Missileer's shooting arm with a rocket from six gridspaces away is basically better than sex y'know.

What I like abt Front Mission is that the pilot stats/skills plus the mech customisation (you can swap chassis, individual arms, the legs, a CPU for stat augmentation, weapons in each hand and on each shoulder, and power backpacks) means you can do a fuckload of different builds and strats. I really enjoy Meihua's bit, I trained her on missiles by accident a lot so I have her harass enemy attackers with SRMs and shit and then charge in and do stun-punch combos, never gets old. Landing the mech punch that knocks out a foe's cockpit is the height of satisfaction.

The AI is also a little smarter than in say, the new Fire Emblems, like they can focus-fire and pick off weak units, or cut off an over-extended squad. They're also fun because if they have a supply truck and you destroy their weapons, they'll retreat to the supply truck to repair, which means you can force them to retreat and rout em basically. Terrain and height advantage matter greatly, and sometimes it's better to withdraw and bait the enemy into your attacks instead.

Front Bussin was a SNES game originally so it was probably butting up against data limits, the story's not up to much (who gives a fuck about Royd's dumbass ladyfriend) and the game is mostly just menus outside of combat, kind of like a Wizardry or something. The Arena just exists so you can train skills and not run out of money. For a sequel, I'd want a job-board where you can take merc contracts on the side, or side-story skirmishes, or something, maybe even an overworld with random encounters for certain factions of mech pilots. Front Mission is really solid, top 10 for me, but there's so many great ways to improve upon it. Add tank or infantry units to fight, like Mechwarrior? Rifles that can shoot for two or three squares? Towns as walkable RPG-like spaces? More and better dynamic salvage from enemy mechs? Disabling kills (i.e. destroyed arms, cockpit-only) letting you grab entire mechs? Bonus points for disabling kills? Tons of stuff.

Front Mission 2's PS1 translation is only half-done, so I'm excited that Switch dorks are done beta-testing the Front Mission 2 Remake for us and it's coming to PC now. The FM 1st remake is getting some improvements backported which is cool too, and I hope the translation gets tightened up when the PC FM2 launches.

Otherwise I am gonna play Tactics Orge on Playstation once I'm done FM.

I completed FF7 Rebirth a couple weeks ago. a light 8/10, a bit better than FF16 but worse than FF7 Remake. Combat is still amazing and fun. Story was kinda meandering. Barret is still based.

Just finished up Unicorn Overlord. 9/10 game and my current GOTY. Scratched my Fire Emblem itch. It's really fun programming your squads with the gambit system.

Currently playing Ghost Trick. Paranormal detective type game and you're trying to solve your own murder as a ghost with special powers. Still at the beginning, but I'm enjoying it so far.

I completed the Stellar Blade demo and it was just okay. The parry and actions felt delayed and I didn't like the speed of combat. I wanna go fast and the MC is very slow. Too bad the Gamers have turned this game into a culture war issue and making it cringe since i was kinda interested in it when it first got revealed. We're gonna get another round of discourse since it's releasing soon. I kept giggling cause the special moves require beta energy to use and the game constantly reminds you of your low beta energy. BETA BLAST!

I'm really gonna finish fallout 4 this time

Problem before was I was absolutely in love with survival, while the game was in love with instant crash to desktop with no error information of any kind, mostly right before arriving back home.

Im just playing non survival now and constantly saving so I lose like 15 minutes a night instead of half the fucking play session.

Also:

• Thronefall
• Helldivers
• Siege with the mates
• Enshrouded with the missus
• Starcraft 2 with meself