The Weekly 'What are you playing?' Discussion

Quinten@lemmy.worldmod to Games@lemmy.world – 90 points –

Have you been spending hours trying to pass a level? Or maybe you are completely addicted to a newly bought game. Do you have a question about a game or would like to share something else? In the Weekly Discussion Thread, you can do it all!

Please don’t forget to use the spoiler tag as soon as you start talking about a storyline.

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Gave Valheim another shot.

The last couple times I've tried it I struggled picking up momentum and progressing in the game, as the initial tutorial seems to be missing a few key steps so I end up spinning my wheels not knowing what to do next.

This time I had Christmas break time to fuck around and find out. Pushed through the initial hurdles and actually made decent progress, including soloing the first boss. It's a solid game so far, but it could communicate its expectations a bit more clearly.

I picked up Monster Hunter World again last night after playing some Dark Souls Remastered and itching for more of that style combat. I forgot how much better it was than Rise, and I never got around to playing Iceborne. Having a lot of fun with the new stuff, and I think it'll be my default game this week.

I don't know what it was about Rise but something about it just didn't suit me. Out of the 3 MH games I've played (GU, World and Rise) Rise was by far the fastest I've dropped a MH game. World and Iceborne were excellent, my only two criticisms of Iceborne is having to use the clutch claw and doing Lance dirty. You need to commit a lot of skills to make Lance viable and then even with optimal play you're doing only average dps. Oh and and let's give late game monsters unblockable attacks so we could also remove the one thing that lance has over every other weapon, defense. So just a heads up if you're one of the rare lance players. Charge blade however, chefs kiss, by far my favorite archetype in Iceborne.

For me my issues with Rise are two-fold.

One, it's because it was designed for the Switch and based off the handheld version of the game, so they were working under stricter hardware limitations and could afford to sacrifice fidelity. This felt like a step backwards after we were spoiled by how detailed and vibrant World felt. The environments just felt more artificial and "gamey" where World felt like an actual place with real creatures interacting with each other in believable ways.

Two, it's because I don't much like the wire-bugs. They feel out of place in Monster Hunter because they're just a bit too OP and magical. I'm not a fan of the more fantastical elements MH has been introducing. I like the series being more grounded, and I felt World hit the balance nicely with the weapons and tools being fun and "anime" without being so over the top they break verisimilitude.

Both are minor complaints. Rise is still a great game and I did play it for a good while on the Switch, it's just not scratching the MH itch like World does.

Took a break from Factorio (SE+K2 mod) to play some vanilla Factorio.

Oh and Against the Storm! The distilled "just the interesting bit" citybuilder with a metaprogression frame. That game can not be praised enough.

I don't understand what you mean in regards to against the storm.

Baldur's Gate 3.

Just picked it up, never played other cRPGs or D&D but I'm really enjoying it! Not doing a lot of quests yet but just exploring. Combat is quite difficult to understand sometimes because it has so many rules I'm not used too, but I'd like to think I'm learning slowly.

The rest and spell slot mechanic is also quite interesting, as it forces me to not pick too many fights before taking a long rest. This is totally new to me 😅

For anyone interesting I'm playing as a human conjuration wizard and my party is Astarion (arcane trickster), Shadowheart and Lae'zel (battle master).

Baldur's Gate 3 is amazing. There is so many hidden things everywhere and it does D&D better than some campaigns I played

Baldur's Gate 3. Kids got it for me for Christmas, thoroughly enjoying every bit of it so far

Heroes of might and magic 3. I always come back, eventually.

I've been on via vcmi lately. Something about homm3 just draws me in. Have you played any of the others? I haven't and have been wondering if they are similar or different but I have this weird fear that they will somehow ruin the special feeling I get from 3 and haven't looked into it.

I want to say bouncing between Faster Than Light and Kingdom Two Crowns. In reality, I'm looking for something else to play.

I was just thinking of picking FTL up again. Love that game. Wish there was something very like it out there to sink my teeth into.

If you're into card-based games at all, give Cobalt Core a shot. Gave me more of an FTL buzz than Into the Breach did.

factorio, finally i convinced my friend to play it, and now he's addicted

I had a week to myself and binged a Factorio run, I got the "Complete all technologies" achievement with only solar and a single research station

Monster hunter 4 ultimate and Dave the diver

Gawd I love MH4U. MHGU has now surpassed it for me but I’m shocked that 4U ran waaaay better, with uncapped FPS.

Help! I have a choice to make between Hades, Psychonauts 2, and Doom Eternal. What do you guys think? I'm more of a casual gamer but enjoy a bit of challenge (I liked doom 2016 a lot, but I was told eternal is harder).

I also recommend Hades. Don't be afraid to use that "God mode"

Hades would be my choice if you're looking to be challenged. Give it a few tries on normal difficulty, and if you're getting your ass kicked it has a great casual friendly accessibility option to turn on a slowly scaling damage reduction that will eventually tune the game to your skill level. You can turn it off at any time, and there are no penalties for using it.

Psychonauts 2 is also a solid choice. Overall it was an excellent sequel and definitely worth playing, but if you're looking for a challenge look elsewhere. It's a casual platformer through and through. It's still a great game in it's own right, though IMO it doesn't take as many risks as the original Psychonauts and didn't quite hit the same emotional highs.

Hades is an amazing game that you can play forever. It is as challenging as you want to make it but to complete the entire story you'll have to play a lot.

Psychonauts 2 is a great platformer. Very good for casual play. The story is great and it's very funny.

I like doom eternal better than doom 2016 only because it has more of a rock, paper, scissors feel to the combat than 2016. Meaning you will perform a lot better switching your weapons to fit the enemy. As opposed to 2016 where you can just use whatever you feel like.

After many many recommendations on here I'm playing Slay the Spire mostly, with some Valorant thrown in when I'm playing with my kids.

Picked up Control again. Had a couple people get me interested in Alan Wake 2, and I'd already played through half of Control earlier in the year before I lost interest. I'm more into it now. Not planning on playing the first Alan Wake, but I'm playing the crossover DLC in this right now.

I didn't really care for the first Alan Wake. And I kind of liked Control but wasn't crazy about it.

But man Alan Wake 2 is fantastic.

Also, if you like the concepts in Control, particularly about the objects, you should check out the miniseries The Lost Room which I suspect inspired it a lot.

I finished Control and immediately fired up AW2 and so far I'm exactly with you on both, heh. I didn't know how good AW2 was going to look, right up there with Death Stranding and Cyberpunk 2077 as some of the best-looking stuff I've had on my PC.

The series is an interesting rec, I haven't seen Peter Krause in anything other than Six Feet Under.

Fallout new vegas. It's suprisingly good. Tho, it is a Vlašič, after all.

I ran out of new games to play so I'm back to my default of Dark Souls. Replaying DS2: SOTFS at the moment with a Dex/Faith character.

No matter how many times I replay the games, I can never not go in on dex stats haha

I just finished Scorn, it was very interesting.

I feel like the combat wasn't necessary since the puzzles and exploration felt like the main focus of the game, but at the same time, I don't know how they could have made the environment feel dangerous without the threat of death. There was a puzzle later in the game that did require you to injure yourself, but I don't think that would have worked as a replacement for combat in the rest of the game, and being present throughout the game would lessen the impact of it in the short moment where it is actually necessary. Also, the guns were very neat looking, so that is an additional upside to having combat.

Even though this sounds like a lot of complaining, I don't think I could come up with any other criticisms, as pretty much everything else about the game felt perfect. I don't think it is the sort of thing I will play again, but it will be something I will think back on more than most other games.

I'm playing Barotrauma and Lethal Company lately. Both very fun coop games. We need more coop games, I don't know why devs don't make them as much anymore

Baldur’s Gate 3. I don’t think I’m even out of the first act. I also got Jedi Survivor recently but BG3 is dominating my time.

I remember being lost as to which act was which as I got closer to being 40 hours in, and still wasn't sure what act I was in. Turns out, that's still act one and they are very clear when the next act starts :)

Happy playing!

Still playing Zelda: TOTK. Loving it but the game is so massive and I don't get much spare time to play, so I may have to pass the save file on to my future children to complete.

Just got to Act III in Baldur’s Gate 3, and god damnit is it good. I played and loved the original 2 games when they came out, but I didn’t have the time to devote time to it when it came out on consoles in the summer. Glad I waited, and even more pleased that it lived up to the hype (and then some)!

I also started the Valhalla DLC for God of War Ragnarok, and it’s OUTSTANDING. it’s a great palette cleanser in between BG3 or if I just want a short play session since the runs are only 20 minutes or so. The Roguelite formula is perfect for GoW, and I’m really hoping more AAA games try something similar to extend their lifespan. I highly recommend checking it out.

I never got anywhere near finishing Nier Automata so I’m doing that. A little Dave the Diver on the side.

Plowing through Deathloop. Its... ok. Enemy variety is basically different weapons and a couple bullet sponges. Glad I didn't get this at full price.

I just started this as well... i was so lost forthe first few hours, not the controls, just what am I meant to be doing? I have 2 mission logs, I don't know what any of the guns or powers do and I'm meant to start collecting them?

You sort of just learn. Learn what the guns do, try and start collecting the ones that work for how you want to take out enemies, kill the big named characters for their powers and eventually build a load out and a stable of knowledge of how to kill the bosses such that you can eventually do a full run through and kill them all in the same world state.

Yeah I've slowly managed to put it together now, I'm glad I pushed through that initial confusion. It's fun, though I liked Dishonored more

I agree. I like Deathloop, I like a lot of things about it, but Dishonored and Prey are extremely tough acts to follow.

I played it a bit on Gamepass. It feels like it has the bones to be a great time loop game but doesn't seem to put it all together.

Im glad i went in blind and turned off the map markers but at some point I realized I wasn't having fun exploring and figuring out the events in the loop. Like you said the enemy variety sucks and I don't like being randomly invaded when I'm trying to map things out.

I love Deathloop for what it is. A rogue like only to service the story but the best part imo is the pvp. As you said the enemies aren't varied and are meant to be just an inconvenience unless you get swarmed. Having someone invade your game to ruin your run was a great idea only marred by the fact that the networking is not good and constantly rubber banded depending on the distance between the both of you.

Still trying to catch up on the last couple of years of WARFRAME, having an absolute blast 🪷

Just started Mass Effect: Andromeda yesterday, bought on winter sale.

While I like story and characters refreshing, right now it doesn't feel as addictive(and emersive) as Mass Effect 3 (but am only on hour 3).

It's a victim of EA's marketing team - it's a much better game than its reputation would suggest, yet it never delivered due to all the hype that was created before the release. And it taught me to ignore the marketing stuff and just wait for the release to check on the game and not my overhyped expectations.

Suvi's accent <3

ooh yea the pilot, it took me aback for a sec when she frist spoke.

I don't usually look for games, rather i take a note when I see someone playing and then browse for it later when bored. I just last year took mass effect as a franchise even though it was on my radar for a long time.

An interesting choice for 2024. Lemme know how it goes.

saved, too bad I don't have remind me in X days bot available.

With introduction of new interactable species I'm a little bit more warmed up to it.

WoW classic season of discovery. Enjoying my time at level 25 doing world PVP and making gold on the auction house!

Finished a durge run on BG3 honor mode last week so I'm quite burned out playing single player games ATM. So just bouncing around the Finals and Overwatch 2. Actually my old COVID gaming group got together to play Warzone since they reverted the movement back to the old MW19 I just might buy MW3 just to save my sanity of leveling the guns. I think that's the main purpose of the MP versions of COD, just a guns leveling pass for the yearly weapons drop.

Yakuza 2 on Steam Deck, after completing (not 100%) Y0 and Y1. Planning to keep playing them in order, until Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth comes out.

I'm new to the series, and loving it. Can't wait to get back home (traveling now) and move from Deck to my PC, high resolution and maxed quality.

Won a giveaway for Returnal so I'll be playing that this week.

Other than that I've been giving Fallout 4 mods a go since the Fallout London release date was revealed. So far I've played Bleachers which I couldn't stand, an Enclave one that's surprisingly good and Sim Settlements which is jaw dropping tbh.

LOOOOOVE Returnal. First game I played in my computer that had full, perfect Dualsense support. I wish more games did. It is improved in many other dimensions by the controller alone. ….i don’t even have a PS5 hahaha

The game uses the controller in reality cool ways, I was tempted to just use M/K but you don't really need to aim much either so controller works really well.

I’m a STAUNCH KBM user but Returnal is a totally different experience on the Dualsense. It’s incredible!

The game was definitely made for it, it even auto aims so that's not an issue whatsoever.

I've spent close to 20 hours in Jedi: Survivor. It runs surprisingly well on medium with my 1060 6GB, getting 30-40 fps except when in the desert. The game itself is really fun, an improvement on basically every aspect of the first one.

Bouncing between Obduction and Eidolon.

Just finished playing Hogwarts Legacy. The last main quest was a bit of a stretch imo. I mean "The House Cup" where you have to reach level 34 before you are able to enter it. I was getting a bit frustrated I had to grind for that... Now I can take something else from my queue. Maybe Firewatch, or Thief.

Firewatch is short and enjoyable. You'll be able to rip through it.

got a handful of games in the steam sale, and I'm currently about halfway through bugsnax - it's really enjoyable so far. planning to start either hypnospace outlaw or the new ultrakill update after.

Contemplating Divinity Original Sin 2. Pretty new to cRPGs and just thinking about it feels daunting :)

Otherwise I'm bouncing between Dave the Diver, Sea of Thieves and RoboQuest

Because that youve mentioned divinity original sin 2, I think you should also check out pathfinder wrath of the righteous. The game is currently on sale and I think that the characters in this game are amazing. I had a crpg itch around a month ago and now I'm glued to this game.

Finished up the God of War Valhalla DLC (which was awesome), and now I'm playing through Little Nightmares 2. Almost done with it. Short but really good!

Pretty much just been playing Risk of Rain Returns. Fun game but gets pretty hard.

The wife got me bg3 for Christmas, I'm very much enjoying it on my deck. Working through path of exile acts again, currently middle of act 7, decided to take a break for some don't starve together which the d&d group plays when someone doesn't show up, with happened a lot this holiday season.

Finally starting my horizon playthrough on PC. Such a gorgeous game so far!

Currently playing Until Dawn. Really interesting seeing your choices play out.

Just started playing the finals to get me off of overwatch finally.

Conan Exiles and Baldur’s Gate 3, depending on my mood.

I was planning on trying the latest WoW expansion, now that Bobby is gone, but funny enough I just don't have the urge to give it a shot.

I bought Greedfall on a sale just before BG3 launch. Went through BG3 and Phantom Liberty, now I finally have some time to catch up and I'm having fun. Love the setting, the plot is interesting, the NPCs are okay. Sure, it's not on the same level as those two but it is to be expected given the studio size. Overall it's a solid game, worth checking out, especially if you get it on a sale.

Slowly making progress in Dave the Diver, which is quite entertaining. Also working on Warhammer 40k: Rogue Trader.

Also collaboratively playing The Sims 4 with my wife, and I'd forgotten how fun that could be.

Slowly making progress in Dave the Diver, which is quite entertaining.

Worth the purchase? I've been on the fence, trying to decide.

Also collaboratively playing The Sims 4 with my wife, and I’d forgotten how fun that could be.

Always love the previous version of The Sims, but The Sims 4 seems to go backwards design wise as far as how every house is its own loading screen room, etc. Also the cost of trying to buy everything so you have a complete game is just so outrageous.

Squad

I play for a few hours most nights but I will say that the devs come across as so inept it is equally fun & frustrating. When the teamwork just naturally works there is nothing that can beat it but the amount of bugs and performance issues majorly let it done.

The gifted game 20 minutes till dawn that epic gave is quite fun, but less crazy than the original vampire survivors, I like the characters at least and that they put an auto-aim option.

My main game is Elite Dangerous but I am currently taking a breather playing Dave the Diver. It's a very laid back but catchy little game!

Up to 50 hours in it. Feels like a chore sometimes, when the runs don't end with a bang, but with a slow steady growth or last spurt of opening a cache, they could improve the audio or visuals there.

The progression is unnecessarily slow, would have been ok with a 40 hour experience instead of a 100 hour one.