What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Mischief Maker]

Invisible Inc.

It's a turn-based grid strategy stealth game taking place in procedurally-generated levels in a cyberpunk dystopia. It plays more like an actual Shadowrun game than the series of open firefights in Harebrained Schemes' official Shadowrun games.

The thing I really like about the game is after the levels are generated, the RNG takes a smoke break. Every action is automatically successful, but every action has its price.

The main downside of this game for me is its art design. Colors are bland, the music is unobtrusive, and nobody displays visible cybernetics.

I've finished a beginner difficulty campaign and moved on to medium. This game can become brutal fast.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Never again. Don't know what's more annoying: the finesse required just to not go OB on some of these holes, or the obnoxious audience and their disappointed moaning after every stroke that isn't a hole-in-one.

Everybody I've tried it with (non-gamers too) found Monkey Golf great fun. Yes, getting to play all the fields must require mad skillz, but so does getting to play bonus stages in the main Super Monkey Ball (all regular ones have to be one-lifed through). Those games become insanely difficult quickly.
I heard about people getting angry with Super Monkey Ball before, but it has yet to happen to me.

[KAI]

Just played a mini Vampire Savior tourney with some member of the Argentine FG Union on Fightcade.
http://challonge.com/VAMPIRE_UAFG_SUE
Fucking love this game <3

[Obiwanshinobi]

The beginning of Nier (PS3) - village past prologue - certainly left me unimpressed. Are those villager's lines written so poorly, or the character models make them sound so? Characters pop-up out in the fields, reminiscent of OoT, coupled with the ritual fetch quests give me a strong "caricature jRPG" vibe. I wonder what is the elephant in the room here... Does writting video game dialogues automatically make one a video games writer, or - just like pulp fiction writing - it can't be easily imitated?

I liked the energy of FFCCh: The Crystal Bearers' beginning better. Having said that, I keep wondering about the ram having kicked the playable character. Never before did I see sheep or goats kicking - normally, they headbutt. Were the game designers this ignorant, or is it me who cannot fathom the mystery behind it all? More puzzling a game than Deadly Premonition at this point of my playing both.

[system11]

Until Dawn (PS4) - they're really nailed the horror movie feel with this one, it's like a 'choose your own adventure' interactive film. Unfortunately one of the characters in my play are already dead, another in injured and one missing presumed dead.

[null1024]

Ace Combat 2 [PS1].

4's been way too score-attack focused for me, 3's handling was bugging me, and 1 is almost needlessly primitive, so I popped 2 in.
Loads of fun. Decent visuals, and supports the DualShock, something I never actually bothered to check until today [technically, it supports the Dual Analog controller, the immediate predecessor to the DualShock, which was a tad bit larger than a plain Playstation controller and didn't let games enable analog mode in software].

oddly, it lets you calibrate both sticks but only actually uses the left one in game, you can't look around with the right stick like in later games

I'm on the mission Final Countdown, having spent a decent bit of time screwing up on Cavalry.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Is there any use for guns in Ace Combat 2? What little I played seemed pretty simplistic (for such a po-faced game).

Nier flows nicely enough, even if it's nothing special so far. I can see myself completing it without any prolonged breaks typically haunting my gaming these days. I already got stuck and looked up FAQ once BECAUSE I WOULDN'T GUESS DOUBLE JUMPING IS POSSIBLE (without any upgrades, out of the box).
The kind of game engine I keep abusing in search of exploits. Smooth controls might well be just the thing that draws me in, as was the case with Metroid: Other M.

I was relieved hearing the protagonist's comment on certain lady's outfit (looks like something out of Kagero/Trapt/Deception and if it didn't raise ANY eyebrows in depicted world, I'd find my disbelief that much harder to willingly suspend).

I found the conversation about differences between sheep and goats interesting as I heard from archeologists it's practically impossible for them to distinguish between those species' skeletons (perhaps DNA tests would be helpful, but those cost money).

[iconoclast]

FYI regarding Nier, the first playthrough only tells half of the full story (or maybe even a little less). You don't have to play through the entire game in successive playthroughs, though, so you can go through it pretty quickly.

[null1024]

Is there any use for guns in Ace Combat 2?

I think I've shot one target down with the guns instead of missiles in AC2.
I've gotten a good bit of use on them in AC4, though -- but I also can't think of any target I've seen so far in AC4 that took more than 2 missiles, things seem more fragile there, and IIRC you enter gun range a bit further out and it's easier to follow behind because you can go really slowly and do wild maneuvers without stalling in 4 [in fact, you stall much, much more easily in 1/2/3].

also, if you haven't already, turn on advanced control
First time I played AC2, I didn't know that was a thing, it's so much nicer to be able to roll the plane whatever which way you need in all directions.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Advanced control all the way. Sky Odyssey pretty much killed the likes of Pilotwings for me. By the way, in Rogue Squadron II advanced must be enabled manually.
Much to my relief, I still could enjoy Freelancer with its point & click controls this year. It's analogue stick that awakes a "weekend flight sim head" within me.

A curio - Sky Odyssey is the only PS2 game I can think of that doesn't automatically set the controller to analogue.

[Mero]

Managed to 1CC Cleopatra Fortune, probably not that hard in the grand scheme of things but still kind of hard because one mistake can put you in major trouble that can be very hard to recover from.

[Obiwanshinobi]

Started Nier on default difficulty, hoping the harder level will make some difference during possible NG+. Wondering why I don't mind the easy combat, I've come to thinking it's because of the variety. That's right - those battles are varied, which Xenoblade Chronicles was most sorely lacking. And wondering why it's gotten me hooked when Pandora's Tower (with its arguably more ambitious, fresher system) hasn't - well, responsivness of Nier controls is doing it for me. I feel the combat in Pandora's Tower would be so much more enjoyable with reduced input lag it almost hurts. Worst of all, I can't see any reason WHY it wouldn't respond any faster. It's not pushing the hardware any further than dozens upon dozens of PS2-gen console TPP action games, many of which running smoother and visually busier than Pandora's Tower.

[JBC]

Fatal Frame 1 seems to lack a certain precision. Oftentimes I'll flash my camera right at the 'fatal frame' & it just doesn't register on the ghost, then I get molested. It doesn't seem to be a problem in the more refined sequels.

[Ruldra]

Managing to get quite far in La-Mulana. The biggest issues that made me stop playing the original version were the facts that I couldn't travel to alternate fields or see where the hidden rooms were without the corresponding software. After so long I finally found them in the remake, so exploring the ruins became much less of a hassle now. All I need at this point is the software that lets me summon key fairies at will. Once I find that, I believe I can make it to the end.

Using a guide is absolutely out of question for me, and I'm happy that I got this far into the game without one.

[Blinge]

No guide huh? Impressive stuff man, this one is definitely on my list.

[lilmanjs]

Shift 2: Unleashed
The very first event in the career mode is insanely stupid. You do pretty much what the first game did. Drive a loner car and see how high you can place to get starter cash for buying your first car. It becomes stupid when you can be 3 seconds ahead of the guy behind you going into the first turn of the second lap and every single time, the AI will brake insanely late, knock you into a spin off the track, into a wall and himself not get any damage from a hard hit, nor go off the road himself. I just gave up and moved on with a 7th place finish. After that event, the game is getting to be fun. I have no clue what I'm doing in drift events though.

[broken harbour]

Been trying to run thru some shorter games I have in my backlog including:

Crash Bandicoot - PS1

The original! I played this back when it was new and remembered loving it, picked it up recently and was wondering if it held up. Of the original PS1 games, it's clearly the weakest, with some ropey controls and more than a few cheap deaths. Animations and everything looks slightly crude, the presentation certainly got better as time went on. The thing I didn't remember was the difficulty, you will die a lot in this game. Overall I still really enjoyed it, but the weird controls (which were improved in the sequels) means you'll have to be patient with it.

Metal Gear Solid - PS1

Despite loving this in 1998... I'm having a hard time getting into this game now. I forgot just how easy it is to die in this game if you get spotted, either that or I just suck. Oddly enough, this is one of the only 32-bit era games I have to play with scanlines on. (The other being Burning Rangers). Maybe I just have to come back to it later. Kudos to the voice acting though, quite good for a game of it's age.


Tourist Trophy - PS2

I was a big fan of all the Gran Turismo games, and was hoping this would be like that game, but with like.... bikes and stuff.
It probably is like that but hot damn, I cannot come to grips with the controls, maybe its because I'm not a bike guy IRL, or because I'm trying to approach every turn like I would in a car (I've raced cars for the last decade IRL) but I just keep... falling off the bike. I'm guessing that's why this game is so cheap used? Everyone else having the same issue as me?

[J_Taishu]

I've been playing a puzzle game called Sokoban recently. It's really simple but makes some tough demands on your spatial reasoning abilities. I got into it because when I was live-streaming The Adventures of Lolo one of the listeners mentioned how similar Lolo was to Sokoban.

Anyway, there's like a billion Sokoban clones available for iOS, a really great version called "Boxy Boy" (maybe it's one word?) for PC Engine and also Genesis/SNES versions which aren't quite as good.

[Ruldra]

It becomes stupid when you can be 3 seconds ahead of the guy behind you going into the first turn of the second lap and every single time, the AI will brake insanely late, knock you into a spin off the track, into a wall and himself not get any damage from a hard hit, nor go off the road himself.

Never got to play Shift 2, but I remember a lot of people back in the day complaining about that. Apparently the AI is extremely aggressive and them crashing into you and ruining your races happens pretty often throughout the game, be warned.

[Icarus]

Tokyo 7th Sisters and Love Live: School Idol Festival (both on iOS) have taken over from Kantai Collection as my daily timesink.
I was playing Fate: Grand/Order (iOS) but found it pretty monotonous and one-dimensional, which is a shame as it had promise.
Looking into getting a IIDX controller so I can play Beatmania IIDX 20 Tricoro properly.

[Immryr]

Metal Gear Solid - PS1

Despite loving this in 1998... I'm having a hard time getting into this game now. I forgot just how easy it is to die in this game if you get spotted, either that or I just suck. Oddly enough, this is one of the only 32-bit era games I have to play with scanlines on. (The other being Burning Rangers). Maybe I just have to come back to it later. Kudos to the voice acting though, quite good for a game of it's age.

I recently replayed this and am currently playing mgs2 for the first time and I found it A LOT easier to escape and hide in the first game, so much so that in the second game if I alert the guards I often just run for whatever area I'm trying to get to and let myself die. that way I don't waste any resources and get to spawn in the area I was trying to get to. in the first game you just have to go through a door to drop the guards agro and there is often something that you can hide in or under if you can't get out of the room.

[mamboFoxtrot]

So, after a looooong break, I finished up Metal Gear Rising. I had no idea I was on the last level this whole time! I thought I was maybe 2/3 done at most.

I couldn't beat the final boss of Metal Gear Rising. It's a damn tough fight.

Jesus fuck you weren't kidding. So much invincibility spam. Such absurdly massive hitboxes. I'd ran out of nanopastes before the fight, too, so I had to do the first phase without taking more than a couple hits. Thankfully they give you, like, four of them in the middle of the fight if you get a certain cut right. I managed to beat him, but only after God knows how many fucking retries.

If there was something I was supposed to be able to do while he's healing, I never caught on to it.

Absolutely fantastic game, though.

[JBC]

Oh def. It has a classic energy about it that's rare to find in today's games. I've been meaning to pick it back up since I still have my save file.

[Shepardus]

If there was something I was supposed to be able to do while he's healing, I never caught on to it.

You need to pick up your sword (there should be a button prompt when you get near it, disabling camera lock-on helps if you have trouble getting it to appear like I did) and go into blade mode behind him. There's a weak point on his back that will interrupt his healing and stagger him, giving you a good 5-10 seconds to freely attack.

[mamboFoxtrot]

I figured as much and had tried that, but he just grabbed my sword and punched me. I guess maybe I wasn't technically completely behind or something. Or I just missed the weak-point. Or maybe just literally mistook his front for his back. (I mean, he does get pretty gross and mutated looking lol)

I ended up using a super-scrub strategy of just repeatedly making him punch me to make him stop healing. Keep doing it and I guess he just stops retrying and does other things. Or maybe there's some limit to how much he can heal.

[Shepardus]

It should look something like this if you do it right. I'm not sure what happened in your case but missing the weak point sounds like it could explain that.

[MR_Soren]

I recently played King's Bounty for Sega Genesis. It's much better than the Mac, PC, and PS2 (Quest for the Dragonbone Staff) versions, but I haven't played any of the more recent remakes that are floating around nor do I know if they bear much resemblance to the original game.

Still a fantastic puzzle/adventure/strategy game, and a precursor to the awesome Heroes of Might and Magic series. (Well, II and III were awesome anyway.)


I started playing Battle of Olympus (NES) for the first time since the 90s, and that's a mean game! I remembered liking it as a child when I received it as a Christmas gift. My first impressions upon revisiting it as an adult are that the graphics are solid, the controls are tight, and the environments are varied enough to be interesting. I enjoyed what I've played so far. The world map is surprisingly bright and colorful. I'm going to try beating it again, could take a while.

[Mischief Maker]

I recently played King's Bounty for Sega Genesis. It's much better than the Mac, PC, and PS2 (Quest for the Dragonbone Staff) versions, but I haven't played any of the more recent remakes that are floating around nor do I know if they bear much resemblance to the original game.

The recent ones are more like a quest-based RPG in an open world. They don't have the puzzle map quest, they don't have a time limit, you don't occupy castles. They DO have a scoring system, like the Space Rangers series, so there is a score benefit to finishing the game fast, but if you want to waste massive amounts of time grinding or trying to maneuver around overpowered mobs sitting on runes that's totally an option.

"The Legend" is the best in terms of story, "Armored Princess/Crossworlds" is the best in terms of gameplay. Bear in mind that archers are rebalanced in Armored Princess to have higher hitpoints (which equals less individuals to a stack) so they're more about hitting enemies with debuffs than heavy-damage artillery now. The later ones are reviled for being buggy shovelware.

I do want to say that the recent King's Bounty games seem most like a throwback because of how cheerful and colorful and fun-oriented they are. In this modern age when videogames are supposed to be black and white and depressing and boring, yet teach you about the human condition once you death march to the end credits, a videogame where characters actually smile feels like a religious experience.

[BrianC]

Been on a Bionic Commando kick. Just beat the US version. I know it's odd to play that after the superior JP version, but I was curious about the machine gun and ending text (funny how the "programe" credit text is still in the US version) and it's still a nice game despite the nonsensical changes. The funny thing about the game is what wasn't changed, despite Nintendo's usually strict censorship. I also started playing the GB BC. Nice remix from the same developers as the awesome MMIV GB and MMV GB.

[ACSeraph]

Playing Majora's Mask 3D. Not my first time here, but I haven't touched the game since junior high school. I think I appreciate it a lot more now, this game is a real work of art and much more creative and unique than OoT.

Got really lucky with this one too, I didn't intend to buy a copy since I've hit tough times lately and I more or less left the series around the time Wind Waker hit. But I saw a copy randomly in a crane game of all places and decided to play just for the hell of it. Won the game on the first try, brand new copy for a dollar