Whatcha been playing lately?

[peter]

I've just completed the first Resident Evil (PS4 remake) game and it was a blast! The stationary camera position with no '360' function was odd at first, but I've played Until Dawn before which uses a similar system and so I adapted pretty quickly. But I loved the game! The puzzles were engaging and even the story had its own interest. The mansion was sprawling and labrynthine and sound effects were fantastic (in fact I was watching a demo of the new RE Village, due out in May recently, and thought that the sound-work was definitely inferior to the RE1 remake).

Didn't take me long to complete it, but it was a week or two of fun at the consul!

[Avatar]

I played one of them, (an early one) and couldn't handle the camera. Never played one since.

--A

[Rigel]

I played one of them, (an early one) and couldn't handle the camera. Never played one since.

--A

I grew up on Sierra and LucasArts adventure games, so something like that doesn't bother me. But I've never tried the RE games.

And yes, I'm the Rimworld player here, though I haven't played for a while. Been working on a massive 15k base in Factorio that's entirely bot-based. I've finished most of the layout, except for the fluids, which are...challenging. Oh, and I haven't actually laid out any resource mines yet. Just the factories.

The trains needed to feed such a beast is insane... I've got 12 stations each for copper and iron, and my trains are 16 cars long each...

[peter]

Have just sprung for the (sort of) open world game Vampyr which, as the name suggests, involves playing as a doctor in the gaslit streets of Victorian London who, recently turned undead, must balance his need to chomp on his patients in order to feed himself with the conflicting demands of following his vocation.

The game's essence seems to lie in its dialogue based foundation, with each NPC invested with a significant backstory and big consequences resulting from your actions in dealing with them. You need (apparently) to feed on them in order to progress up through the levels, but in doing so you spread disease and devastation in the areas that you do so, rendering them no go zones and loosing all of the side-quests available therefrom. You can progress without killing too many people - but the price is that you do not level up and fighting enemies of ever higher levels than you becomes increasingly difficult. This can be offset to a degree with upgrading weapons and learning better defensive techniques - but only to a degree. This dynamic sounds interesting, and together with the reports that the game has a really good 'feel' in terms of its murky Dracula type gothic nature and the highly developed and gripping plot lines of the side-quests (absolutely no fetch and carry stuff here), I've been persuaded to take the plunge.

I got it for slightly less than nine quid so it's not exactly a bank breaker, and it is apparently quite a long game with good replay possibilities, so it might pass some time in the wait for ES6.

Here's hoping!

[Avatar]

I have it, but I started it, got distracted somewhere along the way, and never progressed too far. Nothing stood out as unenjoyable, I will probably go back to it at some point when I have nothing.

Still on Kenshi, did a start with 100 Hivers (very weak insect(ish) kinda race), all with 0 stats, in a very inhospitable region.

I currently have 100 still, but did some substantial recruitment to keep it at that number. Been as low as 77 characters, and as high as 107, have probably lost about 40 guys to enemy action, wildlife and starvation, but have made up the numbers here and there with new recruits.

Dismantled my whole fully functioning and self-sufficient base to move to a different region, (a fraught journey) built a new base, and couldn't figure out why my guys were starving to death (again)...realised eventually the new region was less fertile, so the same number of fields etc. was not producing enough food.

Finally got a handle on that last night. Think they will stay alive now.

--A

[peter]

The biggest problem with Vampyr is the map; it's not very detailed as to what is where and there are countless gates and the like which, while locked, block routes that on the map look navigable. You can search forever to get to a particular point in a side-quest where the map shows you need to be, only to discover that it is still off-limits because you haven't advanced far enough in the main quest.

Aside from this it's good - in fact I'd go so far as to say very good! The story becomes more and more deeply involved as you proceed, and the relationships between the characters you meet and talk to evermore complex. It's a good sixty percent dialogue and you must continuously update your relationships with these characters in order to unlock the dialogue trees. This succeeds in drawing you ever deeper into the complex web of relationships and with four different endings to finish up at, your choices are very influential in where you finally reside.

Good doctor or chowing down monster - you decide!

[Avatar]

Well, I'm playing Evil Genius 2, which released on the 30th March. Was a big fan of the original one.

Bought this on the 31st, and have 60 hours so far. More like a remake than a new game, it's starting to get a little "padded" as I near the end.

I'm now forced to complete 20 random "schemes" (like little side-exercises) before I can progress, which is a bit annoying.

--A

[I'm Murrin]

Control was on sale recently so I grabbed it. Playing in short chunks atm. Gorgeous game, nice controls that feel good to play, and a story/setting that's weird in just the right ways. Only thing is it's got a slight creepy horror vibe that makes me a bit more cautious than I needc to be.

[Avatar]

Recent Bannerlord updates have added the Sandbox mode, and the option to return a fief to the kingdom if you don't want it, so I have started a new game.

(I was waiting for that feature, since being burdened with unwanted fiefs was interfering with my long-term goals. )

--A

[Rigel]

Just finished my achievement run on Spider-Man (PS4). I got the remastered version with the Miles Morales sequel; played both stories, then went back to the first for all the trophies.

The only trophy I'm missing now is beating NG+ on Ultimate difficulty, but I need to set it aside for a bit. Kind of burnt out on it after achievement hunting.

I think I'll go through Death of the Outsider first, so I can finish the Dishonoured saga.

[Rigel]

So I tried the first few levels of Death of the Outsider, and I'm playing in a very non-Dishonoured way... basically killing everyone. I think I need to try something else before I get into that, or just embrace the chaos (though this last one doesn't include the Chaos system from the previous games).

[Avatar]

Following up Yakuza 3 Remastered with (predictably) Yakuza 4 Remastered.

Definitely a better port than 3 was, and a departure from the usual story. Mechanics also a bit closer to Yakuza 0, which is a good thing.

--A

[Avatar]

Couldn't face Yakuza 5 yet, so went back to Kenshi.

--A

[peter]

I'm well into Fallout New Vegas now, having completed rdr2 and having met my match with a brief spell playing Dark Souls.

FNV is turning into a very fine game. Av always preferred it to Fallout 4 (of which I'm a great fan) and in some ways I can see why. It is a more gritty experience (the graphics limitations notwithstanding) with the Mojave desert and ruined infrastructure, and the brutal behaviour of the factions therein. Its quest lines have a more realistic feel to them as well and the dialogue is more reflective of the loss and hardship of living in the post-apocalyptic era.

I've just reached the ruined metropolis of New Vegas itself and am starting to explore what it has to offer. Here's to my chances, but I've got a good gun (that gun from Blade Runner, I believe), plenty of stimpaks and a couple of bottles of whiskey. Do not...fuck... with....me!



Oh - and by the way, I've sprung for a x-box 360 version of Oblivion (which I've never played to completion as yet) so while I wait for another Elder Scrolls game I'll see if I can't get some of these earlier classics under my belt.

[Avatar]

I found Oblivion (which I also played after I played Skyrim) a bit disappointing, because a lot of what I took for granted in the way Skyrim works is not in evidence yet.

One thing to keep in mind about New Vegas is that the game does actually end, once the final mission at the Hoover Dam is done, and you cannot thereafter carry on playing.

There's no limit to how long you can take to actually do that mission, so I suggest either saving before hand, and then reloading if you wish to continue in the wasteland, or else postponing that last section until there is nothing else you wish to do.

As for me, I'm playing AC Valhalla.

--A

[peter]

Good shout Av; always fear of mine that I won't get to finish up my side quest and exploring by virtue of ending the main quest. Doesn't normally happen, but in this case it appears it would have. Forewarned is forearmed!



I'm just entering vault 22 and to suddenly come across all that colour and profusion of vegetation in the arid wasteland of the Mojave was quite something; I hadn't realised how starved of colour I had become!

[Avatar]

Interestingly, the end of the game comes with little still vignettes which tell you what happened to characters and factions afterwards, and which are determined by your actions and interactions with them.

--A

[peter]

Nice touch! I'll look forward to that.

[Avatar]

Well, I was playing Disco Elysium, which I got on JemCheeta's recommendation.

Very text-driven RPG game that feels like living in a William S Burroughs novel...so quite bizarre in other words.

Then on a whim I picked up Maneater on a Stem sale...schlocky and mindless gore mostly (You play as a shark eating people) so it's an amusing diversion from the intensity of Disco Elysium.

Shall probably switch between them until my new, mind-bogglingly expensive, graphics card arrives at which point I shall undergo the traditional ritual of loading up every game I have installed, maxing out the settings, and playing each for 5 minutes to see how good they look.

--A

[peter]

I'm hopping between FO New Vegas and Oblivion at present. The latter is actually quite good in a retro kind of way. I'm getting used to the older graphics (something that oddly, I barely seem to notice with FO New Vegas) and quite enjoying building up my character. It's nice to meet some of the individuals referenced in Skyrim first hand - I've just met Louis Lachance of Dark Brotherhood fame, and am off to meet the Night Mother as we speak.