May 2025 General Game Discussion Thread

[Zed Clampet]

Other than more rare occasions (supporting indie developer, meme, just have to have it), the way I see it is just getting the best deal possible regardless of how much joy or whatnot it will give you. Just to give an example: In a local shop they had a deal on my favorite dental floss, a 2 for 1 deal. So I bought 14 of them (I ordered them, obviously did not grab them from the shop physically). Next week they were having another deal on same floss, this time the cost was 3 for 2. Same floss, but not the same deal.

Getting something on sale lowers the price, and price is obviously a part of the calculation for "value". Generally speaking and not considering anything related to time, everything about the product remains the same, but in the case of games, they usually get better after launch. Price and quality are big parts of the value calculation, so waiting for sales is definitely a good strategy.

As for joy, how much pleasure you get from entertainment is also a factor, but it's usually something that you only know in hindsight. You probably always think you'll like a game if you buy it, but that doesn't always work out.

Edited my other post for readability. Also, I thought issues related to sanity were funny last night, but it doesn't seem funny this morning, so I got rid of that.

 

[DXCHASE]

Hi from MY end of the gaming spectrum!! I love the diversity of the games we all play. Ive been stayin busy (aside from work) for sure. I honestly didnt think between April and now, hell even this whole year, how many different games ive played that are new in 2025 that are good, well-deserving-of-your-time games.

Battlefield Labs sent out invitations for its Alpha testing this weekend. A certain someone got to play/is playing and a certain someone said its pretty fun and theres a lot going on there despite all the jank and bugs and is really looking forward to the SP campaign when its available to buy.

Doom The Dark Ages: Still ripping through this, though i am only on level 8 with Nigthmare difficulty and level 3 with ultra nightmare (u cant die). I like the game a lot, theres just a lot of other stuff im playing at the moment and playing this slow has been nice tbh.

Diablo 4 / Helldivers 2 : My 2 home games. Still grinding diablo 4's season between the Beserk event and trying to get my wife to ever get a charater to Torment 4. Im also still trying to save SUPER EARTH FROM ILLUMINATE DESTRUCTION! Seriously though, its more fun than ever to play Helldivers 2 even if theres a lot of stuff id like to still see changed.

last, but not least!!

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad : A new F2P game from WB and.... netmarble? So it really is your typical gacha, f2p game with its tons of different currencies (all related to GoT though) a bunch of fetch quests and EVERYTHING else being behind some kind of paywall. Theres a subscription service to apply, a free battlepass vs a 30-55 dollar one etc.

So thats the nonsense part, but, to me as a Game of Thrones fan, the game starts of pretty darn well, seeing you get saved from whitewalkers by Jon Snow. The graphics arent terrible (could be better though), and some of the VA is done by original members of the show along with a good job of re-creating characters that look like the actors. I dont mind all the side quests and stuff because i feel like im running around Westeros.

Its one thing to do this in a world i dont really know (like Lost Arks or FF's), and another where the world is one im familiar with. So, aside from all the usual F2P mobile game stuff, its a solid game. I recommend it to any one who likes Game of Thrones. Its free to try.



So thats this week! Thank you for comin to my ted talk

 

[Zed Clampet]

Hi from MY end of the gaming spectrum!! I love the diversity of the games we all play. Ive been stayin busy (aside from work) for sure. I honestly didnt think between April and now, hell even this whole year, how many different games ive played that are new in 2025 that are good, well-deserving-of-your-time games.

Battlefield Labs sent out invitations for its Alpha testing this weekend. A certain someone got to play/is playing and a certain someone said its pretty fun and theres a lot going on there despite all the jank and bugs and is really looking forward to the SP campaign when its available to buy.

Doom The Dark Ages: Still ripping through this, though i am only on level 8 with Nigthmare difficulty and level 3 with ultra nightmare (u cant die). I like the game a lot, theres just a lot of other stuff im playing at the moment and playing this slow has been nice tbh.

Diablo 4 / Helldivers 2 : My 2 home games. Still grinding diablo 4's season between the Beserk event and trying to get my wife to ever get a charater to Torment 4. Im also still trying to save SUPER EARTH FROM ILLUMINATE DESTRUCTION! Seriously though, its more fun than ever to play Helldivers 2 even if theres a lot of stuff id like to still see changed.

last, but not least!!

Game of Thrones: Kingsroad : A new F2P game from WB and.... netmarble? So it really is your typical gacha, f2p game with its tons of different currencies (all related to GoT though) a bunch of fetch quests and EVERYTHING else being behind some kind of paywall. Theres a subscription service to apply, a free battlepass vs a 30-55 dollar one etc.

So thats the nonsense part, but, to me as a Game of Thrones fan, the game starts of pretty darn well, seeing you get saved from whitewalkers by Jon Snow. The graphics arent terrible (could be better though), and some of the VA is done by original members of the show along with a good job of re-creating characters that look like the actors. I dont mind all the side quests and stuff because i feel like im running around Westeros.

Its one thing to do this in a world i dont really know (like Lost Arks or FF's), and another where the world is one im familiar with. So, aside from all the usual F2P mobile game stuff, its a solid game. I recommend it to any one who likes Game of Thrones. Its free to try.



So thats this week! Thank you for comin to my ted talk

Of course, they know better than I do, but it seems like so many of these F2P games really over do it. It's like they are terrified they aren't going to make any money, so they become desperate and make the monetization as crazy as possible.

Compare that to something like Warframe. All they do is make a few things that people really, really want. Even more crazy is that every one of these things can be crafted in the game for free, and yet people buy them instead, and Warframe is extremely successful. I'd imagine part of that success comes from not seeming desperate.

 

[Johnway]

So i've started the dawn of ragnarok content for AC: Valhalla and so far i'm just plodding around exploring the map. The original primary objective effectively boiled down to "find the next town". But besides that, do whatever you want between point A and B. The USP for this seaon pass are is the special abilities Great idea, slightly iffy execution if if i'm being honest. it runs on energy and thats annoying. Especially if you need to run around in lava. Kira's arena gives opportunity to do some boss rush modes to earn rewards, but whether the rewards are worth it, i can't tell. more grinding there as well. Will i finish it in 30hrs (to round off a 200hr) experience? maybe, but still got a bit left over so more like 250 hrs.


Doom Ramp 2024 the end is in sight, just 5 more maps and the odyssey is complete. I managed to blitz through the last batch of maps with maybe one or 2 causing any issues.

We'll start with Hellville, another batch of urban maps. Only 2 maps stood out for me:

Rooftop redemption: a wonderfully built map set on the top floor of a skyscraper. Essentially one massive arena set in a pent house. Its not difficult but the strong looks make up for it. The only draw back was a few navigational issues, but other wise solid.

Overpass - my map of choice Doom guy starts in a storage warehouse set near an overpass. Whilst not difficult, it is however very well made, with the layouts and doomcute taken to the max. Even fighting though i'm fighting in boxy environments of a small warehouses and box yards its well done. perhaps inspiration on how to do my doom map when i want a dock or storage area.

A really messed up episode of carmen sandieago - A challenging map this one has speed of doom vibes as thats the only way you can survive. its not too tricky but if you lose momentum, make a false turn and you're going to run short of ammo. its a bit dry on the stuff so infighting or just running is the real choice. The more annoying aspect is probably how long it takes for you to get a super shotgun and then it eases up and becomes less tedious. its also also well designed.

From hellvile we move to the next station Aztec zone and no map of choice for this one, but there is an honorable mention to Toxic depths. An extremely difficult map, this is close quarter slaughterfest with some insidious monster placements. Just like other slaughterfest maps, its part puzzle, part skill and a whole lot of luck to survive. The first encounter sets the tone and after that it just gets harder. The final encounter is especially annoying that took countless attempts with save scumming to progress. Not as hard as the other one, but without the BFG, its extremely difficult but doable.

 

[neogunhero]

In case anyone is interested in some official DayZ merch.

 

[Zed Clampet]

It's going to take a lot of practice for me to succeed at JDM Japanese Drift Master. I was good at drifting in the early NFS games and decided that I really enjoyed it, and then the drift technology left me behind and it's my weakest point in racing games these days. That's one of the reasons I bought this. I should get lots of practice before the next Forza Horizon game comes out later this century (I'm annoyed that they are making Fable instead).

 

[DXCHASE]

Just a quick update, started playing a game called Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon. To me its a mix of oblivion, avowed, skyrim and some elden ring difficulty (not dark souls combat though). Good music and a good story with a mix of King Arthur/Merlin lore in it. Very good so far.

Yet another new-ish indie studio, this time claiming to only have 50 people working on it, making a stellar RPG. If you like any of the above games i mentioned, check it out if you can (its 45 usd) but theres a demo!

Going in my recommendations for May considering theres been a good number of things to try this month to me.

 

[Frindis]

It's going to take a lot of practice for me to succeed at JDM Japanese Drift Master. I was good at drifting in the early NFS games and decided that I really enjoyed it, and then the drift technology left me behind and it's my weakest point in racing games these days. That's one of the reasons I bought this. I should get lots of practice before the next Forza Horizon game comes out later this century (I'm annoyed that they are making Fable instead).

Might I suggest trying to drift in your local neighborhood? Just lease a car so nobody knows it is you. Preferably a Lamborghini, I have heard rumors that it is the perfect car for drifting...into something. When the police eventually stop you, you can use the sovereign citizen card and explain that you weren't driving, you were traveling.

Disclaimer: Should only be done under the supervision of staff from nearest mental hospital.

 

[Frindis]

I like free stuff, so here is some free stuff:

Grab a coffin full of FREE Steam Points Shop items featuring bloodsuckers and brain-eaters

A bunch of free Steam Points Shop items have just dropped alongside the new fest. Decorate your profile with a delightfully spooky collection.

gg.deals

How about some zombies vs vampires sales to go hand in hand with those lovely stickers!

Zombies vs. Vampires

Steam Zombies vs. Vampires Fest 2025

store.steampowered.com

Hmm...

Save 55% on Bloodshed on Steam

Bloodshed is a Roguelite Survivors FPS; an exhilarating fusion of Roguelite elements merged with retro-styled visuals and first-person “Survivors-like” frenetic combat action!

store.steampowered.com

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I finished Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Really excellent game, one of my favourites from the last few years. Genuinely interesting world, story and characters, really fun combat and amazing music and art direction in general. I think its worth a try for anyone, especially as its on Gamepass. Its made me more interested in contemporary JRPGs, would have started on Metaphor Refantazio if it was on sale or Gamepass, but that'll have to wait.

Decided instead to give Death Stranding a better shake. Still not sure 2 or 3 hours in, I'd be much more able to take it as seriously as Kojima seems to want if the characters werent named stuff like 'Diehard Man' and 'Dead Man'. Anyway its a pretty nice looking game still, and I like the idea of making basic navigation and traversal moment to moment a main mechanic. Although that makes less sense when I type it out. Will give it a few more sessions and see if it clicks.

 

[Frindis]

It is pretty much confirmed that Bigfoot is real, so why not play as one also!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bynw1cRjSgI

 

[Pifanjr]

I played REPO for the first time today with two friends of mine. I only had a vague idea of what the game was about and didn't have time to play the tutorial, so I had to do with a quick skim through the key bindings. It's pretty easy to pick up though if you're playing with people who know what they're doing.

I did die a couple of times, but I wasn't the only one, so I don't feel too bad about it. My worst mistake was probably when I grabbed a stun grenade and activated it instead of putting it in my inventory.

I'd set up our old PC next to the new one, so after REPO my wife joined us for a game of Don't Starve Together. It's been years since we last played it and it's changed quite a lot, so it was a bit of an adjustment, but we managed fairly well, if only because we turned off death penalties. We were also on the brink of starvation almost the entire time, but we were making some slow progress.

Though right near the end we all decided to explore a bit further and I think everyone died, so that wasn't great, but hopefully we'll do better next time. Now that we have two PCs it's going to be a lot easier to play games together more often.

 

[BeardyHat]

I played REPO for the first time today with two friends of mine. I only had a vague idea of what the game was about and didn't have time to play the tutorial, so I had to do with a quick skim through the key bindings. It's pretty easy to pick up though if you're playing with people who know what they're doing.

I did die a couple of times, but I wasn't the only one, so I don't feel too bad about it. My worst mistake was probably when I grabbed a stun grenade and activated it instead of putting it in my inventory.

I'd set up our old PC next to the new one, so after REPO my wife joined us for a game of Don't Starve Together. It's been years since we last played it and it's changed quite a lot, so it was a bit of an adjustment, but we managed fairly well, if only because we turned off death penalties. We were also on the brink of starvation almost the entire time, but we were making some slow progress.

Though right near the end we all decided to explore a bit further and I think everyone died, so that wasn't great, but hopefully we'll do better next time. Now that we have two PCs it's going to be a lot easier to play games together more often.

REPO is pretty fun, but I don't feel like it had any sticking power with me or my friend group. We played for a couple of hours one week and then a few hours the next, but by the middle of the second session I was kind of feeling like I'd seen the main thrust of the game and didn't really have any desire to play anymore.

Still at it with Abiotic Factor; my current playthrough is 50-hours and I'm ready to move on to the last section of the game (currently. There will be more) and I'm still having fun with it. That said, I think I'm looking for a pallet cleanser, because I keep looking at and trying out new games on various devices, such as my Deck and my Vita. I keep thinking about playing something different and getting lofty ideas, but then end-up just playing more Abiotic.

I do think I might be a little bored of the loop after 50-hours, but it just hasn't sunk in yet and I'm not sure what else I want to play or what I want to play it on. Though, I'm still neglecting hobbies and projects to play it, so that may be indicative of the fact that I do still like the game and am enjoying playing it.

 

[Zed Clampet]

It is pretty much confirmed that Bigfoot is real...

Please take it back before my head explodes

 

[Zloth]

Decided instead to give Death Stranding a better shake. Still not sure 2 or 3 hours in, I'd be much more able to take it as seriously as Kojima seems to want if the characters werent named stuff like 'Diehard Man' and 'Dead Man'.

Many of the names are that way. Even Higgs. (He'll explain it to you himself.)

Are you playing online or off?

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Many of the names are that way. Even Higgs. (He'll explain it to you himself.)

Are you playing online or off?

Playing on whatever it defaults to, I assume online? Will check later when I get a chance to play, without knowing everything I would assume its intended to be online.

---

Just picked this up:

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (@expedition33.bsky.social)

Thirty-three days ago, we released Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Since then, we’ve sold 3.3 million copies. Seriously. As of today. We couldn’t make that up. Another entry on the long list of surreal moments that your support has made real. Thank you ALL.

bsky.app

Expedition 33 released 33 days ago has sold 3.3 million copies. Grrrrreat.

 

[Frindis]

In case more people are playing on a very low spec computer like myself, here is a list of some games that you might be able to run:

Steam Curator: Low System Requirement Games

Low system requirement games worth playing. Check the list tab for more options than the eight tags that actually show up. Everything Should Run on an Intel HD 2000 integrated graphics card or lower.

store.steampowered.com

 

[Zed Clampet]

I feel bad now. For some reason, even though I knew it wasn't going to accomplish anything, I posted a thread on Steam about not liking the music in Farm Together 2. Now we're on page 3 with most of the people saying they don't like the music. They are good developers, so that was really unhelpful of me.

In my defense, though, the music sucks. It's kitschy
and depressing to the point that it almost needs a content warning. The developer said, "I like it. It's melancholy." I pointed out that "melancholy" means 'sad'. And I have no idea why someone wants to be sad while playing Farm Together 2.

 

[Zloth]

And I have no idea why someone wants to be sad while playing Farm Together 2.

Well, from the plants' perspective....

Is it like the music in the trailer on the Steam page? That doesn't seem melancholy to me.

 

[Pifanjr]

My wife has been obsessed with Rimworld lately (she just played it through the night last night) and it's got me in the mood to play it again too. I considered getting the DLC for my birthday, but the new PC we got was more expensive than I had planned for, so I decided against it. But I must say that with a list of mods I don't feel like I'm really missing out on anything.

It's been really nice to have two working computers, letting my wife and I just play at the same time, each doing our own game and occasionally pointing something out to the other person.

 

[Zed Clampet]

My wife has been obsessed with Rimworld lately (she just played it through the night last night) and it's got me in the mood to play it again too. I considered getting the DLC for my birthday, but the new PC we got was more expensive than I had planned for, so I decided against it. But I must say that with a list of mods I don't feel like I'm really missing out on anything.

It's been really nice to have two working computers, letting my wife and I just play at the same time, each doing our own game and occasionally pointing something out to the other person.

Someday soon I'm going to try that again. I have the mod list you made here bookmarked.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Was amazed by the responses on the sports forum I'm on when someone posted a "what are you playing now" thread. A lot more PC gamers on there than I thought, and a lot more people playing Expedition 33 and BG3 than I expected.

 

[BeardyHat]

My wife has been obsessed with Rimworld lately (she just played it through the night last night) and it's got me in the mood to play it again too. I considered getting the DLC for my birthday, but the new PC we got was more expensive than I had planned for, so I decided against it. But I must say that with a list of mods I don't feel like I'm really missing out on anything.

It's been really nice to have two working computers, letting my wife and I just play at the same time, each doing our own game and occasionally pointing something out to the other person.

Per Zed, what's this modlist? I must have missed it, but I've been wanting to play Rimworld again at some point; I last played several years ago and finally "completed" the game and felt sort-of done with it at that point and haven't been back.

 

[Pifanjr]

My Rimworld game is going fairly well, though I've had some setbacks. I've had two colonists request to join and both of them turned out to be a traitor. The first was killed pretty easily, the second set his room on fire before I could get to him and he burned alive. Luckily my base is mostly made of stone, but I was worried my pawns would cook inside of the base because the temperature got so high even after the fire had died down. Luckily it didn't take too long to cool off when I opened the doors.

Then, one of my pawns decided to go on a arsonist spree. Luckily I had someone nearby who managed to arrest her, but now I have to convince her to join my camp again and none of my pawns have a decent social skill.

Of course, while she was in jail, one of my pawns started being hunted by a predator (again). She has a melee skill of 11, so she was able to hold out on her own until help could arrive, but she got pretty hurt and has been staying in the hospital.

Per Zed, what's this modlist? I must have missed it, but I've been wanting to play Rimworld again at some point; I last played several years ago and finally "completed" the game and felt sort-of done with it at that point and haven't been back.

It's the list here:

Rimworld Discussion

I'm mostly making this thread to share my modlist with @ZedClampet, plus I'll have somewhere I can ramble on about my Rimworld game more extensively without feeling like I'm clogging up the Random Thoughts thread with play by play descriptions of my colony. Onto my current modlist: Quality of...

forums.pcgamer.com

I apparently removed Colony Manager at some point, but I don't remember why. It might just not have been updated to the latest version when I last played.

I did add Hospitality to my modlist. It allows neutral or friendly factions to request to stay at your base for a little bit. You can charge them money to sleep in a designated guest bed and if they like your camp your relationship with that faction improves. They also tend to help out a bit when they're enjoying their stay and it's possible to recruit guests, though you'll take a penalty to the relationship of their faction for poaching them.

It's honestly pretty great to have a bunch of people show up to help out a bit when you're down to one functioning pawn.


If you've "completed" the game once and built a spaceship before, you could try out Save Our Ship 2 which adds endgame content where you can continue your colony on board your own spaceship. I've never tried it myself, but it's quite popular as far as I'm aware.

You could also take a look at the whole Vanilla Expanded modlist, as they've added quite a few since I last played. I wouldn't recommend activating them all as that would clog up your menus and you'd never use or see half of them, so you'll have to do some effort to pick the ones you think are interesting for a particular playthrough.

 

[DXCHASE]

Was amazed by the responses on the sports forum I'm on when someone posted a "what are you playing now" thread. A lot more PC gamers on there than I thought, and a lot more people playing Expedition 33 and BG3 than I expected.

Really? I think the hive-mind of gamers right now are playing and saying TBC games are peak gaming. I personally 100% disagree but i see people bullying anyone that disagrees that a turn based game is good in a lot of different social spaces.