Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Mon Jul 10, 2017 1:55 pm

Ah Armored Core. Though I do now technically own a copy (unless it got Dirty Santa'd already) it still lives on as a game hyped in my youth as being customizable beyond belief and having "realistic" giant robot controls.

It would continue to inspire me to get AC2 day one with my PS2. A game that rewards you for failing as hard as possible up front and where you can beat the hardest single opponent with nothing but a well-timed jump. That probably had more of an influence on my life than I realized until typing it out right now.
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Yoji
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Yoji » Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:17 pm

Might be repeating myself here, but I met one of my best friends through that game. I was bored in shop class and asked someone else if they'd heard of Armored Core. Then from the other side of the room, someone say "YOU'VE HEARD OF THAT GAME, TOO??" We became best frenemies thanks to his skill with lightweights and my skill in... well, nothing, really.

I think we got a PS2 just for AC2, but I don't remember a fight like that. Then again, it was like fifteen years ago. I do remember getting really excited about beating Leos Klein, the last boss. I was so happy that I called my frenemy to tell him, but only got his answering machine (again, fifteen years ago). He says his mom had a really concerned talk with him after she got to that message first: "Rebel816, who is this Klein boy, and why did Hardly beat him up?"
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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Mon Jul 10, 2017 9:13 pm

I can't find a good video of it, but basically this idea:



Except I remember going for maximum boost time and just hovering over the building as he zooms under you.
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Lottel
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Lottel » Mon Jul 10, 2017 11:24 pm

Has-been Heroes is $10 new right now (and $20+ used) at game stop so I picked it up just have something else to play on the switch until Splatoon comes out.
Someone told me it was basically a rougelike moba and I'm a fine of some roguelikes so I tried it out.

I've never touched a moba before but this game almost has a rhythm game quality to it. You time your presses so you can max combos but also you have to switch between lanes just right. Is this a normal thing?

I understand there's a lot of depth to this game and it really opens up more hours into it. But I dunno. I'll give it another hour or two and probably sell it back to game stop if it doesn't put its hooks into me.
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Yoji
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Yoji » Tue Jul 11, 2017 12:22 am

beatbandito wrote:(Ares defeated by own-goal ring-out)

... have you ever suddenly remembered something from your youth that you haven't thought about in years, and it sort of leaves you still and quiet for a moment? Like recreating Secret of Mana scenes in the back yard, or sitting on the roof to watch fireworks, or that one good time you had with your jerk-face brother? 'cause I think I just had a lesser version there.
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François
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby François » Tue Jul 11, 2017 7:01 pm

Lottel wrote:I've never touched a moba before but this game almost has a rhythm game quality to it. You time your presses so you can max combos but also you have to switch between lanes just right. Is this a normal thing?


Has-been Heroes is definitely its own unique thing, so it's a shame that it's so damn bad at explaining itself to a newcomer. It's not a MOBA and it's only a roguelike if you consider procedural generation and permadeath are enough make it one (so it's not one). I'd say in essence it's really more of a high-pressure puzzle game. I've rather liked it myself so far, but it's balls-hard and it feels like some of the bosses are only beatable if the levels randomly give you the tools necessary to beat them. I haven't entirely given up on it though, so maybe I'll see if I can GIT GUD SCRUB before something else grabs my attention.

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Lottel
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Lottel » Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:19 pm

I've played it a bit more and I'm coming around to it. It really seems to rely on you stopping the fight constantly to switch people around and figure everything out.

But yeah. A bit more explaining would be nice. The starting screen is a textless animation of someone attacking an enemy. But that's it.
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François
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby François » Wed Jul 12, 2017 12:38 pm

I think the biggest ah-ha! moments I had was when I realized that you can switch people around anytime someone isn't at the far left, that you can only switch places with someone who isn't at the far left, and that you're free to swap multiple people at the same time. The other non-obvious basic mechanic I can think of is that heroes do a small amount of damage to enemies they touch as they return to their initial position, which typically doesn't happen unless they got switched to a lane with enemies who are further along to the left than the ones in the lane they originally attacked. That's crucial later on and you'll only learn about it by accident.

I think the starting screen you mention is meant to describe the whole "deplete stamina bar to exactly zero" mechanic, but yeah, if this is your first time playing you have no idea what any of the meters mean. I've been a Frozenbyte fan since Shadowgrounds but man they really dropped the ball on tutorializing for this one.

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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Yoji » Sat Jul 15, 2017 2:10 pm

Saturday morning with mommy sleeping in? Father/son Last Guardian time.

It's funny and/or sad how Hardly Jr gets alarmed and upset as Trico and the boy fight the guard statues. Then we get to the dumb barrel-tossing puzzles and he slumps in my lap with a sigh. "Yeah, kiddo. I hate these parts too."
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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Sun Jul 23, 2017 8:11 am

GIGANTIC

is a ftp action moba with no creep, cap points and layouts more similar to a CTF setup. It has some issues despite being out of beta now (mostly interface based, communication, and maybe group matchmaking, gameplay is solid) and may have slow enough gains to try and force pay, but it's all for character unlocks and visual customization.



It's pretty good, play gamez, yo!



*requires not-terrible-but-still-exists third party client
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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Thu Aug 24, 2017 11:15 am

West of Loathing

Is pretty much what you'd expect writing wise from Loathing. It has very similar gameplay to Stick of Truth and feels like a PG version that's much heavier on the puns than grossouts (unless you want good items). Pretty much every page of text made me laugh out loud at least once and the whole thing feels like it was designed by people that have been designing a mostly text based game for like a generation now.

I mostly negated combat by powerleveling up front (which they encourage, every enemy type has an infinite spawner somewhere, several accessible essentially from the start) but it feels to mostly be about exploiting weaknesses or dying like a chump, again like SoT, or Persona. The main plot is pretty short and easy to rush, but even going to every map and clicking everything I'd say I have 40% completion at the end. They fortunately run a non-game-ending credit scene after the final fight that highlights the threads that still have something to follow, because there's some obtuse stuff, and a lot of the work looks like it's in figuring out how to trigger steps.

Anyway it's p. good. I recommend it for the laughs.
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Spooky Skeleton » Fri Aug 25, 2017 3:21 pm

I've been trying out this new game Hyper Universe that is basically a MOBA version of something like Risk of Rain.
It's alright, I haven't really figured out how complex it is yet, but I've been entertained enough by just the fact that I can be this boxer guy called Louis who I love the visual design of. He can bob and weave out of the way of big attacks and come back in with a stunning counter punch and stuff like that. If he can get away from the fight, he can plop down on a ring stool and spit water into a bucket while he takes a breather and gets a little health back. His Ultimate is basically a Street Fighter Critical Art where if you can combo into the big wind up first blow of it, he'll sit there Dempsy rolling the person for a bit and you can mash attack to make it do more damage.

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Right now there's some stupid bug where the game can't detect the triggers on an xbox controller. It's super annoying because it means I have to play with keyboard for now, and it feels like it'd be way more fun with a controller; but some guy is trying to fix it.

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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Fri Aug 25, 2017 4:32 pm

That looks good, is inexpensive for the pay option, I hold Nexon in high regard for some reason, and have this Saturday off. Coincidence? Yes! But I will use it to play this game.
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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Sat Aug 26, 2017 11:21 am

Spooky Skeleton wrote:Right now there's some stupid bug where the game can't detect the triggers on an xbox controller. It's super annoying because it means I have to play with keyboard for now, and it feels like it'd be way more fun with a controller; but some guy is trying to fix it.


Quickest fix is Swapping triggers for 'W' and 'R' if you use any kind of mapper. But you do have to use number keys to upgrade items that way.

I've been having fun with Sapitelbub, maybe we can punchbro some games together.
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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:27 pm

What's up with Bal being the only nerd smart enough to play Absolver? There's not much more to it outside the combat system right now (maybe 2 hours of play if you're not getting lost or interacting with other players) but the combat system and other players are the whole point. And it's a pretty good point.
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Joxam
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Joxam » Sun Sep 03, 2017 7:35 pm

I, honestly? There is so much shit coming out i the next three months even I don't have enough money to pick everything up I want. In the last week I got Kiwami and Everybody's Golf. This year has been insane.
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Newbie » Mon Sep 04, 2017 1:42 am

I fried my motherboard a couple months back, so I've pretty much exclusively playing whatever will run on my original-run Surface and my PS4. Since I have a deadline coming up at the end of this month, turn that tendency up to 11.

Sunless Sea: Zubmariner: Although I made a thread for Sunless Sea back when it first came out, I pretty quickly dropped it over the consequences of its identity crisis. See, the game bills itself almost like a roguelike; it warns you that your first captain will probably die, but suggests future captains will be able to learn and grow from their sacrifice. Most islands will shift around to a limited degree when that happens, and any changes in the story of the gameworld are reset. This can kind of break the spell—Captain Abernathy may not have been able to rescue the sisters from the flames when Hunter's Keep burns down, but his daughter can return to the isle to find Cynthia, Phoebe, and Lucy once again entertaining visitors as though nothing had ever happened. Stuff like this can almost make sense in this setting, since death isn't permanent and memory is unreliable, but it doesn't really hold up to serious consideration.

The real problem is that playing Sunless Sea "correctly" is kinda monotonous.

See, each island on the Unterzee has fantastic stories and mystery and atmosphere; it's like the seven journeys of Sinbad the Sailor through the lens of Lovecraft & Poe, from a world in which Lovecraft and Poe had been travel-writers. To get to these places and pace your exposure to them, to make the decisions you make on these islands meaningful, you have to actually sail out to them. "Sail" is a misnomer: the Unterzee hasn't enough wind for sail power. Your ship uses fuel, and you have to stock supplies for your crew, and both of these things cost money and space in your hold. Furthermore, your fuel can be spent to keep the ship's lamp burning; failure to do this will accelerate the existential and cosmological dread that will inevitably overtake any who stay on the Unterzee for too long. So: spend money and space on supplies (which deplete continuously at a rate determined by crew count while away from port) and fuel (which depletes based on your movement speed and engine efficiency/power); fuel can also be spent to turn your lights on, which slows the accumulation of fear, and which also speeds up target acquisition during combat; if fear gets too high, your officers and crew will have a tendency to off themselves or disappear/die in mysterious circumstances. If you run out of supplies, you will probably wind up eating your crew, which definitely increases terror. If you run out of fuel, you're probably just fucked. If you get this tightrope act out of balance, finding your way back to port and recovering from that error is a tense, thrilling experience.

To have any hope of progress and profitability, though, you've got to play it safe. Find a trading route that earns you more than it costs in supplies and fuel and repeat it as long as the game will let you. With your earnings, invest in the next affordable expense that will allow you to make even more: ferry sphinxstone to buy a bigger boat with more fuel and supplies. Trade a bunch of those supplies for the Tomb Colonist tour. Get your earnings from that to buy lightcatch boxes so you can smuggle sunlight from the surface. This minmaxery only works if you take the most direct routes and avoid combat, so having any hope of surviving the good parts of the game requires hours of playing a long, boring, and repetitive version of the game first.

Despite this one pretty-serious issue, if you don't really care about "winning", the game's still great. I got to lose crewmates in a knife-fight at a pirate fortress, butcher gigantic luminescent crabs for science, and sold my soul to a bored, bureaucratic monkey. I found an awful hollow gravity below the island where postmen dwell; I ended a war between the rats and cavies on Pigmote Isle, and so became a laughingstock by trying to report as such to the Admiralty. I discovered that if you sail the wrong way and can slip past Mt. Nomad, you can find the gates of Avid Horizon. Do not sail this way; things did not go well for that captain.

This trailer still gives me goosebumps.



I haven't even touched the DLC content yet:



Does that seem like maybe it covers some familiar territory? Then let's double-down:



Sunless Skies looks pretty, plays smooth, and has failed to captivate me in the single hour I've given it. Granted, it's in early access, but I'm very ambivalent: "Victorian London on the shore of an underground ocean" is an easier buy than "Victorian colonization of a space-like cosmological void using ships that look like trains". And once it occurred to me, I haven't been able to shake this analogy:

Sunless Sea : BioShock :: Sunless Skies : BioShock Infinite

I know that's not a fair comparison to make, but the parallels in setting and vibrancy of color make it a little inevitable. Plus, I mainly play these games for the writing; Emily Short's (admittedly limited) involvement in Fallen London and Sunless Sea was a big part of my interest in those games. Not only have I heard nothing of her contributions this time around, but one of the main developers and creators of those earlier works, Alexis Kennedy, left the company more than a year ago and has actually just funded his new Cultist Simulator on Kickstarter. I don't know if this is biasing me unfairly against the text and atmosphere in Sunless Skies, or if it's just the fact that it's in an early access state, but none of the ports I've found so far has managed to approach the mystery and marvel present in nearly ever island on the Unterzee.

I guess we'll see how things develop.

Anyway, all of this is just to say the game I'm spending the most time with lately by far is Hearthstone. Sometimes I play Niku; it's fun to find the most efficient way to complete my quests. Also I like it when I get to play my druid-killing deck against druids. Unfortunately the meta in the lower ranks is not nearly as monochromatic as people would have you believe.
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malikial
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby malikial » Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:30 pm

I liked Sunless Sea but the big question is, with you saying your PS4 is your main gaming device... am I gonna be able to convince you to get Destiny 2 and shoot nerds with me?

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Lottel
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby Lottel » Mon Sep 04, 2017 5:02 pm

Mario + Rabbids is way for fun than it should be. I've got my problems with the game (all 100% company based. You Have to use Mario, you Have to use a rabbid, etc) but it's a plan ol' fun game.

I saw in an interview that they wanted to make a Mario Kart game but without the racing or cars and I can see that. I was hoping for a bit more XCOM but got Mario Kart Tactics and I'm okay with that.

With how well it sold and it's reviews, I'm sure it's just the first in a franchise. So we'll see how it goes.
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beatbandito
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Re: Hey [%target] Whatcha Playin'?

Postby beatbandito » Mon Sep 04, 2017 7:50 pm

I'm digging rabbids too. Haven't made it far enough to learn about needing a rabbid, but I don't know why I'd ever not want rabbid peach. It is very fun though, it feels weird, like Mario is almost stapled in, but I like the slightly meta personalities the Mushroom Kingdom crew has been given and the rabbid humor is way better than I remember anything from the actual games ever being.

Obviously it's a kids game and I made it to world 2 of 4 before restarting a fight because I thought I wouldn't perfect it on the first run (without upgrading items, or doing optional grind 'quests', or using the option before every fight to fully heal and boost stats...) But the design is sooooooo good. Both tactics in fights and puzzles while navigating the map fall perfectly into a place where a few minutes of looking things over and you can figure out what they want you to do. Not instantly solvable, but just enough. Combat gets more complex as you go on, as you would expect, and there's a definite drop right after you can start to swap party members. Still, there's always the option to take it on directly or look around to where you need to dash, hop and jump right over to the end.
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