Random Game Thoughts Thread—October 30-November 05

[Brian Boru]

So I finished running thru my Steam list of games. Hid hundreds, left probably 100 more that might be of interest, and installed 20 to play 'next'—will start with short ones to reduce the list more quickly.

I (re)discovered Rise of Nations Extended Edition which I'd totally forgotten, one of my fav RTSs from early 00s—apparently it's been buffed:
New in the Extended Edition:

• Improved Visuals
  • Improved water
  • Improved textures
  • Full-screen anti-aliasing
• Full Steamworks Integration
  • Multiplayer with ranked matches (ELO)
  • Achievements
  • Trading Cards
  • Cloud saves

I'm starting off with These nights in Cairo, which is a short visual novel about an archaeology expedition in Egypt—ping @PointnClicker01—which has lovely artwork.

 

[Zloth]

Ugh. My Atari ST taught me that desktop trash cans go in the lower right. All this time later and it's STILL weird for me when I see it in the upper left.

Oh? Lovely artwork? Still remember how to do screenshots, Brian?

Work got crazy for me, so I've barely been able to do much gaming recently. High time I fixed that!

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Another former Atari ST owner? I believe mine is still in my Dads attic somewhere, along with all the game discs. Unfortunately younger me didnt think that sort of thing would be nice to have later in life, wish I'd kept all of my boxed games.

I restarted my Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate Daemonhunters campaign (titles too long) as it wasnt clear to me that servitors are destroyed to complete research. I changed the research a few times and burned through 2 or 3 items worth of them before I noticed they arent returned to the pool even if no time passes. Not much more to say I havent got very far but its still pretty good, if not as polished as an XCom.

Finished a crisis for the first time in veteran Ironman in Battle Brothers, then immediately got overconfident, took on a massed group of Orcs and lost a fully levelled (probably 20 hours) bro. Leaving the game there for a while.

Dipped back into Crusader Kings 3 again with a new game, decided I'm going to unite Ireland as a kingdom for the achievement. Planning on then not expanding any more than that, try and keep my vassals in line and just develop it fully up as long as that stays fun.

 

[Brian Boru]

Still remember how to do screenshots, Brian?

Oh yeah, those things…

decided I'm going to unite Ireland as a kingdom

Shout if you need any tips, or need my GUI—Guide to Unifying Ireland. It's so satisfying to be a trend setter.

 

[Zloth]

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous has rather odd achievements. Normally, games put a bunch of pretty easy ones early in the game. Not this one. You get one for finishing the easy, introductory area plus one for each of the five (?) acts throughout the game. However, it looks like the rest require fancy finishes. For instance, when you have to save the inn area from attack, you only get an achievement if you save every building. You can get a second achievement for finishing act 2, but only if you do it particularly quickly.

Anyone looking to get "glowing" achievements (less than 10% or less players achieved) can find over 70 in this game!

 

[Pifanjr]

I upped the difficulty for XCOM: Chimera Squad and the game is still pretty easy, though I did have one of my squad members drop to 1 HP on one of the missions. My medic was "training" to unlock an extra item slot, so I couldn't take her with me for 3 events, and I decided to take the rookie with me because I don't want to relegate any of them to just desk duty. Luckily I brought plenty of healing and I got lucky I managed to get some really powerful scavenger market items.

I've now finished my first investigation. The very first extra agent I chose had specific advantages against robots because I assumed the first faction I would investigate would use them a lot. Turns out they didn't use any of them except in the very last mission. The second one however likes them a lot and it's really her time to shine. Getting an enemy android to self-destruct next to his former allies is great.

 

[Brian Boru]

Quite unique 2017 stealth game with cool mechanics, Echo is a TPP with some horror elements.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pb-hKhLHy1U

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Quite unique 2017 stealth game with cool mechanics, Echo is a TPP with some horror elements.

That looks really interesting and I've never heard of it at all. Wishlisted, thanks.

 

[Ryzengang]

I've been bouncing around a bit and I haven't really settled on a main new game currently. I've been playing a lot of Forza Horizon 5, which is one of my go-to games, but outside of that there's not much I'm consistently playing on PC. I have gotten about 4-5 hours into Final Fantasy X (HD remaster) and I actually like it quite a bit. It's kind of a bizarre game but I've found it charming so far. Maybe before the sun dies out I'll actually get around to playing Red Dead Redemption 2 like I told myself I was going to do...

I have been consistently playing on the Switch lately, and I'm currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and AI: The Somnium Files. I've finished the base game of XC2 and I'm now playing the Torna: The Golden Country DLC. Honestly, I think the DLC is probably better than the main game. It's really strong so far. AI: The Somnium Files is basically a visual novel and a point-and-click detective game and it has been really enjoyable so far. It's a very stylish game all the way down to the UI.

 

[Sore But Whole]

I bit the bullet and bought MW2. Apparently I'm the only one who has to restart the game (I'm prompted/demanded to do so) before I can play the campaign. Quite annoying but otherwise a stellar game from what I've played so far.

Also, desktop icons r bad, mkay?

 

[Pifanjr]

I played some more XCOM: Chimera Squad and had my first agent bleeding out through a combination of bad luck, not bringing the medic, a misclick and underestimating the enemy. One of the weaker enemy types usually throws a smoke grenade on its first time, but this time it called in reinforcements so I suddenly had two more enemies to worry about. There was also an enemy type I hadn't seen before that turned out to be more dangerous than I expected because it has an ability that allows it to do its next turn earlier.

 

[Brian Boru]

desktop icons r bad, mkay

Well that's just a load of Crapulence! Desktop icons have ruled throughout history:

Julius Caesar—'Beware the icons March'

Richard III—'An icon, an icon—my shortcuts for an icon!'

Robert Herrick—
Fair icons, we weep to see
You haste away so soon;
Replaced by fussy shortcuts,
The user is clearly a goon.

 

[Zloth]

That looks really interesting and I've never heard of it at all. Wishlisted, thanks.

I've mentioned it on the forums before. Search on 'one trick pony' and it should pop up - which kinda gives away my thoughts on it.

I have gotten about 4-5 hours into Final Fantasy X (HD remaster) and I actually like it quite a bit. It's kind of a bizarre game but I've found it charming so far.

It's got a dry patch where Squaresoft tries to do a teenage romance novel for a while and fails badly (see also the infamous laughing scene). Once you get past the swim in the lake, it loses the "innocent" bit and gets back to a really good story.

I bit the bullet and bought MW2.

Wow, that's an old one! Why didn't you go for MW5 instead?

 

[Sore But Whole]

Well that's just a load of Crapulence! Desktop icons have ruled throughout history:

Julius Caesar—'Beware the icons March'

Richard III—'An icon, an icon—my shortcuts for an icon!'

Robert Herrick—
Fair icons, we weep to see
You haste away so soon;
Replaced by fussy shortcuts,
The user is clearly a goon.

Hey! Keep my name out of your mouth when you're talking so vile! How dare you!

I would post a picture of my spotless desktop, but I don't feel like uploading it to a website right now. Mine is only spotless because I don't use my PC for anything truly important and I'm a very unimportant person in the PC world. LOL

Wow, that's an old one! Why didn't you go for MW5 instead?

You couldn't have told me before I put 2+ hours into it huh? Now I can't refund it! Wish these youngins would stop naming their newfangled games the same thing as their oldfangled games.

 

[Johnway]

decided to play some path of exile just to grab me a loot box and see how things have changed. Played 90mins this evening and ... yeah... the whole thing feels off. It maybe because of the mayhem league and its not really balanced but it feels like a more clunky game then i remember. its still early days so maybe by act 3 or 4 it will be ok, but its been slow going and a real slog.

 

[Zloth]

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is messing with my mind!

I had just about finished clearing demons out a pretty big town, when I ran into a boss. A nasty demon boss! Basically, I could barely scratch it while it was able to toss out some sort of flame strike spell that brought everyone down to low health. Another one of those, and the entire party would go down. Suddenly, a dwarf sneaks up on the demon, stabs it with a special dagger, and the demon teleports away.

That's not the first time the game has set me up against an impossible foe, saved me in the nick of time, then set me against the same boss again later, when I was strong enough to deal with it. It's great for the "look how powerful I've gotten" feeling. It sure is rough to face, though!