Topic: What games are you playing at the moment?

[ToneLa]

until the 700 bits of dlc for CS2.

I'm gonna hammer the Steam Workshop. It's gonna be one of those games just wasted on console

[RedKenWah]

It's basically the beginning of the story, but I'll put it in spoilertags.

Spoiler

The protagonist, Basim, is a small street criminal and he steals stuff for some guy together with his friend or sister (have no idea what she is). The guy he works for gets jobs from other people and amongst them is a Master Assassin. She's interested in some package that has arrived in the city and been brought to the palace, but she doesn't want Basim to get it for her. He decides to go into the palace and steal it anyway. His friend/sister says she knows a way to get in there and then they infiltrate the palace. When they find the package it contains some mysterious artefact and when Basim picks it up the boss guy of the palace surprises them. He gets into a fight with Basim and starts chocking him. Basim is trying to hold him back and is just about to reach for a dagger the guy has on his belt, when his friend/sister appears, grabs the dagger and kills the boss guy. After that the guy's son surprises them and they run away. The whole city is then looking for Basim and guards kill all the people that were living where the guy he did jobs for lived. His friend/sister catches up to him and they have a short dialogue, where Basim starts screaming at her that it was all her fault and that she killed the guy. Absolutely hated that. Not only was he about to kill the guy himself, but it was his own fucking idea to sneak into the palace and steal whatever was in the package. He then escapes out of the city with the help of the Master Assassin and that's when I decided I can't be arsed with this... No idea, whether the whole thing is cleared up later in the game, but I'm not that big of an AC-fan in the first place and that just put me off even more.

[close]

Just completed it last night, personally for me there is not enough in it to warrant it to be a full game and could easily have seen this as a DLC for Valhalla. Once you have played through the main story there is in my humble opinion nothing which keeps you engaged with carrying on. Yes for perfectionists you might want to finish some side quests etc but it’s very limited.

I write this as a fan of the way they did Origins, Valhalla etc… and this game whilst yes it does go back to the core routes of OG Assassins Creed, it’s way too short. Also the locations to synchronise aren’t spectacular either in my humble opinion which I personally think does make for part of the experience.

I’d say story wise it’s a bit meh and doesn’t really add much to the story as set out in Valhalla.

Spoiler

Basically Basims “friend” is an imaginative figure who has been guiding him to the end game which is some secret first age temple beneath the brotherhoods camp when you first learn to become an assassin. After finding the object in the palace at the start his blood is the key to some locked door in this temple and you go a few yards forward and find a futuristic sarcophagus which he opens up and you see Nehal in there but then he remembers she doesn’t exist and it’s nothing other than a hologram of the previous occupant from the first age/ISU type who is stabbed by another and that’s it. The Jinni haunting you is another imaginative thing as well which isn’t really explained what it is, or it may have been but I lost interest.

Killing the order of ancients, you kill all other than the main head in which Nehal implores you to find answers from first rather than kill straight away who when you confront tells you about the temple but before they can say the real critical piece, she is stabbed by Roshan and you get angry etc…

[close]

[Flaccido Dongingo]

until the 700 bits of dlc for CS2.

Fucking hell it's shocking, you buy the base game then you see the list of DLC haha.

[voodoo ray]

Fucking hell it's shocking, you buy the base game then you see the list of DLC haha.

Paradox games always seem to be the same.

[stoa]

I'm not a fan of Paradox's DLC-policy, but they have good and bad games in that respect. For example, I've read loads of feedback on Prison Architect where people say, that the DLC basically ruined the game and they were putting out loads of them after taking over the IP. Having said that, I don't mind the way they're doing it with Cities Skylines. You get some bigger expansions, but most of them are mostly cosmetic or new radio stations. At least, with the content creator packs they seem to be getting modders onboard and let them have a bit of cash and give them a bigger platform. I think I have every big DLC pack for CS, but almost none of the smaller ones as I think they're pretty pointless. And the DLC packs were all worth it. They have improved the game except maybe one or two (like the seasonal one, that only lets you have seasons on certain maps). Having said that, they also include loads of the basic changes (like to game mechanics) in the free updates for the base game. Don't really mind that. Same goes for Crusader Kings. The DLCs for that are all pretty much worth it.

Then again, I see why people don't like it. I've played Stellaris ages ago (more or less when it was release I think). Thought about giving it another try, but saw all that DLC it has now and I can't really be arsed finding out whether some are worth it and improve the game or not.

[voodoo ray]

in their favour I don't think they put any DRM on their games because I've played a few from various download sites for free.


the stellaris sountrack (and some dlc) had some good tunes on it.

[Darren G]

in their favour I don't think they put any DRM on their games because I've played a few from various download sites for free.


the stellaris sountrack (and some dlc) had some good tunes on it.

I'm shocked to see that from you mate. Shocked. 

[PhilV]

Just finished Lies of P for the second time to do some trophies, fuck me, one thing I do dislike is enemies scaling with you, what is the point of levelling up if they do that? A normal peon one hits for half my now double heath from previous playthrough, ridiculous, but still, fuck 'em, they dead now!

Anyway, downloaded Cyberpunk again as got told the expansion breathes new life into it (I had completed it before) and also Guardians of the Galaxy as free on PS Plus and the reviews are great.

[voodoo ray]

I'm shocked to see that from you mate. Shocked. 

well if the option is there......................

[PhilV]

the stellaris sountrack (and some dlc) had some good tunes on it.

Does anyone have that Stellaris (on PS)?

I bought it like 9 months ago, installed it and was honestly overwhelmed by scale and what to do and promptly jumped out, I play Civ a lot but this one was like... a lot!

[voodoo ray]

Does anyone have that Stellaris (on PS)?

I bought it like 9 months ago, installed it and was honestly overwhelmed by scale and what to do and promptly jumped out, I play Civ a lot but this one was like... a lot!

as with many such games I remember it being good fun until it got bogged down in its own micromanagement of everything and became too unwieldy to play.

[JerseyKloppite]

Anyway, downloaded Cyberpunk again as got told the expansion breathes new life into it (I had completed it before) and also Guardians of the Galaxy as free on PS Plus and the reviews are great.

Just finished playing through Cyberpunk for the first time. Brilliant game. GotG is good fun too.

[Scottymuser]

Just completed it last night, personally for me there is not enough in it to warrant it to be a full game and could easily have seen this as a DLC for Valhalla. Once you have played through the main story there is in my humble opinion nothing which keeps you engaged with carrying on. Yes for perfectionists you might want to finish some side quests etc but it’s very limited.

I write this as a fan of the way they did Origins, Valhalla etc… and this game whilst yes it does go back to the core routes of OG Assassins Creed, it’s way too short. Also the locations to synchronise aren’t spectacular either in my humble opinion which I personally think does make for part of the experience.

Looking online, the suggestions is that just the main story takes 15-16 hours to complete.  That is not short.  If you look at the more "classic" AC games pre Origins - the longest game was Black Flag - which many say is about 22.5 hours long, so not that much longer; the Ezio Trilogy took about 50 hours *combined* for all three games, AC1 was a 14-15 hour game, AC3/Unity were about 15 too.  So is the difference that you feel that the older games did have more interesting (collect feathers, all the feathers is about all I remember from them) side content to do *after* the main game - and that you only did the main story because it was such a good story that it kept you hooked?

[RedKenWah]

Looking online, the suggestions is that just the main story takes 15-16 hours to complete.  That is not short.  If you look at the more "classic" AC games pre Origins - the longest game was Black Flag - which many say is about 22.5 hours long, so not that much longer; the Ezio Trilogy took about 50 hours *combined* for all three games, AC1 was a 14-15 hour game, AC3/Unity were about 15 too.  So is the difference that you feel that the older games did have more interesting (collect feathers, all the feathers is about all I remember from them) side content to do *after* the main game - and that you only did the main story because it was such a good story that it kept you hooked?

So as someone who has played the game I would say it was more like 8 - 9 hours to complete the game, and that’s me being very kind. The side quests were of no addition to the story or I personally didn’t feel invested enough to do them after completing the story.

Yes ref the other side quests in the older games, yes I was more invested in that, mainly with the overarching story about the Animus and the ISU civilisation etc… which at the time of the games coming out we didn’t know Ubisoft would not really take full advantage of it but it was that mystery which gave it purpose for those invested to pursue it, snippets of a cut scene by collecting collectibles etc…

I would also say this game, there is very little which is memorable, and again harp on about the Synchronisation points not being memorable. Older Assassins Creed games had that, such as Origins with a Synch point on the Pyramids, the game in London with Big Ben etc…

As I originally said, this was originally meant to have been a DLC for Valhalla which in hindsight you could see as it was probably the same length and map size as the DLC they did set in Ireland.

Again it’s all personal opinion after I played the game and wasn’t really impressed.

[KillieRed]

No Baldurs Gate 3 yet on Xbox, so picked up Divinity Original Sin 2 on the cheap. Such good games.

[voodoo ray]

I've seen an ending to the cyberpunk expansion now, so probably safe for me to say that it's really good. the first section until you end up in the 'hideout' is probably something people are going to moan about if they do 3 or more playthroughs of it, but as the vast majority won't do that it probably isn't that much of a criticism.

[naYoRHa2b]

Just started F1 manager 23, really good, did briefly play 22 but this feels even more polished.

[Flaccido Dongingo]

Just about to play my first game of Rust after being talked in to getting it by my two mates that play it non stop.

[stoa]

Just started F1 manager 23, really good, did briefly play 22 but this feels even more polished.

I had a look at it when it was released on Steam, but then a lot of the reviews said that it still has the same issues as last year's game. I've played that and while I liked a lot of stuff, there was also quite a bit of stuff I didn't enjoy. So, I gave it a pass this year. It has shown up on Gamepass though, so I might have a look in the future.


In terms of what I'm currently playing I'm all in on the farming/life sims (Stardew Valley style). Tried giving SV a go with loads of mods (that also extend the world and add storylines and NPCs), but I think I've spent too much time in the vanilla version. So, I played My Time at Portia on Gamepass. Did enjoy that and played it a lot in recent days, but I'm now at a point, where it just gets boring and tedious. Therefore, I've now switched to Coral Island also on Gamepass. It seems like a very nice game so far and I'll have to see how long it manages to keep me. Loads of different stuff to do so that's a point in its favour.

[voodoo ray]

I played f1 manager last year and to be honest it got kinda boring quite quickly. I've not played this year's but I did hear that they're making it possible to switch teams which could theoretically add some interest.

[Malaysian Kopite]

Alan Wake 2's getting some rave reviews, if it's not too long I might pick it up and give it a go before the end of the year

Just finished RE Village and the DLC too. It's good but story and presentation wise it felt like a letdown after the excellent RE7, despite Village having more fun gameplay.

[Rob K]

I played f1 manager last year and to be honest it got kinda boring quite quickly. I've not played this year's but I did hear that they're making it possible to switch teams which could theoretically add some interest.

Yeah i got to the end of season 1 with Aston Martin and gave me the chance to switch. Want to stick it out another year with them at least though.

Been playing it almost exclusively since it dropped on Game Pass.  Enjoying it despite a couple of bonehead moments on my part. Forgetting to stop Alonso "pushing" on fuel when on for a 1-2 in Azerbaijan and him stopping about 20metres from the finish line was a particularly bad one. 

[stoa]

So, you're playing this to relaxe after your RL job as race engineer for Ferrari?

[voodoo ray]

Yeah i got to the end of season 1 with Aston Martin and gave me the chance to switch. Want to stick it out another year with them at least though.

Been playing it almost exclusively since it dropped on Game Pass.  Enjoying it despite a couple of bonehead moments on my part. Forgetting to stop Alonso "pushing" on fuel when on for a 1-2 in Azerbaijan and him stopping about 20metres from the finish line was a particularly bad one. 

Did you play last year's and if so are there many differences?

[CortexVortex]

Finally started Ghost of Tsushima. Love it so far and my god, it's gorgeous.
Might get Super Mario Bros Wonder soonish. Looks like the best 2D Mario in ages.

[Bennett]

Been making my way through Red Dead Redemption 2 (again). It's just an absolute masterpiece. It's hard to get your head around how detailed it is. Original has been re-released as well and since that's technically a sequel to the second, I'm going to dive straight into that after.

[LiverLuke]

There are far too many good games for me to play, with a 9-5 job and a 4 year old who can't see anything inappropriate I have a very short time frame in the evenings!!

[PhilV]

Just finished playing through Cyberpunk for the first time. Brilliant game. GotG is good fun too.

Just finished Guardians of the Galaxy, not very long but really well done I thought, really fun game with good characters, genuinely a laugh, free to boot so double win!

[F-T-9]

Been making my way through Red Dead Redemption 2 (again). It's just an absolute masterpiece. It's hard to get your head around how detailed it is. Original has been re-released as well and since that's technically a sequel to the second, I'm going to dive straight into that after.

Comfortably in my top 3 games of all time. Sensational detail and story.

Just finished Guardians of the Galaxy, not very long but really well done I thought, really fun game with good characters, genuinely a laugh, free to boot so double win!

Great game, although found it a bit tedious with the waves of enemies you have to defeat.

Hilarious game tbf, loved the bit where they're singing to the space llama.

[CortexVortex]

Just finished Guardians of the Galaxy, not very long but really well done I thought, really fun game with good characters, genuinely a laugh, free to boot so double win!

While I wasn’t a big fan of the combat I really enjoyed the story and especially the banter between the guardians. Great soundtrack as well.
Shame that it wasn’t a big hit as I would have liked to get a sequel.

[Rob K]

Did you play last year's and if so are there many differences?

yeah, although i got it in a sale a few months ago, so didnt get through a season before 23 dropped on gamepass.

ERS is deploy only instead of attack/defend - although there is a battle assist option that can be turned on to get your driver to use it more when fighting others.
Pit crew training schedules to improve performance - im still getting my head around a decent setup for this that helps improve them without tiring them out too much over a month (as that increases chance of mistakes)
Post race part inspections - bodywork work that fails this needs replacing, so feel like im manufacturing more parts throughout the year now.
You can tell your drivers to come in for a stop at different times not just on that lap, so you when both have the same window get on to pit on the lap they are on and the other on the next lap.



i really need to remember to use worn engines, gearboxes in practice and kick the arse out of them there, so dont end up with all availible ones down to 30% and then needing to buy extra and incur grid penalties.

[Rob K]

So, you're playing this to relaxe after your RL job as race engineer for Ferrari?

haha i wish!

[JerseyKloppite]

Finally started Ghost of Tsushima. Love it so far and my god, it's gorgeous.
Might get Super Mario Bros Wonder soonish. Looks like the best 2D Mario in ages.

Mario Wonder is superb (although I do think the elephant power up is a bit overpowered).

Do feel that the Mario platforming experience has pivoted a bit from tricky platforming to “find the special coins”. Not necessarily a criticism but games like Celeste offer a more challenging / interesting platforming experience.

[ToneLa]

Spiderman 2 is great, top notch. Of course I notice bugs, but I would

Cities Skylines 2 is a mess. Fired it up once or twice but it is not optimised one bit

Footie Manager 24. Just cause the next one will be in Unity and you can import saves between versions now. I've created my own club at the very botttom tier and I'll long-play this into the next generation

That's about it. Rocket League as ever. Me and the boys haven't clicked again truly since winning that tournament.

[RedKenWah]

Alan Wake 2 is quite a game thus far. It’s a struggle trying to juggle this, Spider Man 2, BG3 and COD…

[naYoRHa2b]

Alan Wake 2 is quite a game thus far. It’s a struggle trying to juggle this, Spider Man 2, BG3 and COD…

That's why I haven't bought anything since BG3. Having just finished it though I think my next purchase will be MW3 as unfortunately the grind is important early on with the way they level attachments. Probably get AW2 and SM2 for Christmas haha (never too old!)

The new mario looks good too

[F-T-9]

Just finished AC Mirage, very good, not great imo. Was happy to play an AC game that isn't a grind again.

Got Cyberpunk installing now, never bothered with it after it's horrible launch but seems things are a lot better now.

Also got Shadow Tactics waiting for me, love these top down strategy type games. Huge fan of the Commandos series and finished Desperados 3 last year, great genre.

[Riquende]

Anyone got any recommendations for something on PC that will tide me over whilst I put the parts together for my new machine for more modern games? I'm looking for the sort of huge game I can get lost in for a couple of months' worth of dark Winter evenings. Recently I put loads of time into both the Witcher 3 & Assassin's Creed Odyssey and could go for something with a similar outlook:

- Big open world map, different environments to explore (with actual stuff there)
- Engaging lore/history to delve into, cool appropriate gear to collect & equip
- RPG or RPG-lite with some character building and combat style tuning etc.
- World-saving main questline that can be followed or just dipped into as I choose
- Full of side quests that are meaningful for the NPCs (not just MMO-style 'fetch me this', 'kill 6 of them' etc).
- Extracurricular challenges/stuff to track down (Gwent/crafting diagrams from the Witcher, Ship upgrades/Tombs in AC:Odyssey)
- Combat more fun than intensely challenging, not looking for the repeated death mechanic

The type of setting isn't hugely important, though a lot these criteria lend themselves to high fantasy or similar. I've tried starting a few shooters recently and find them less fun these days, but enjoyed Outer Worlds not too long ago.

My PC is an i7-7700K & GTX1070, ideally the game should be from that sort of hardware era so I'm not having to turn the graphic settings right down to keep it playable... and will also hopefully be nice and cheap. I think I paid a fiver for Witcher 3 plus all the DLC on a Steam sale.

[Zlen]

Old Fallout games are a blast if you haven’t played them. Also Mass Effect Legendary collection is incredible value if you’ve not played it. Some older RPG titles might be worrh exploring, Dragon Age Origins, Baldur’s Gate 1&2 remaster, Icewind Dale. Perhaps Divinity games too.

[JerseyKloppite]

Just got Stray for the PS5, reviews are great so looking forward to giving that a go.