Let's talk about video games!

[Deleted]

Hi all,

So, who's playing? IS anyone playing?

Despite my obvious, and often-professed love for the Witcher series, I'm not much of a gamer, actually.
I enjoy occasionally playing games on the tablet, but it takes me very, very long to complete just about anything.

The Witcher series of games, I started playing about nine years ago, but then quit when I found some movie-style cuts of the games on Youtube; as strange as it is to say so, but as a movie, the games work way better than through actual play, at least for me. I read the books, as well, and I think "The Last Wish", at least, is one of the best compilation of fantasy short stories since Thieves' World. (Which, knowing how much I love TW, might say a lot.)

Actually playing now, I do one title: "Record of Agarest War", which is, basically, a Final Fantasy Tactics/Tactics Ogre clone; I want to play it through, but I don't necessarily recommend the title. I like this style of games, and I needed sort of a cheap fix.

Once I've finished that one, I am looking at the Android port of "Romancing Saga II", an old SNES classic. I played an emulated version of the 3rd part of that series in the 90s, on the PC, and I wonder how the series has been holding up against the edge of time.

Notably, I play all my games [blind]. Cheating yes, whenever convenient, but I don't look up *best endings*, or *routes to unlock all achievements*.

So, what are YOU playing?

Yours,

Rafe

[kipper]

I'm a big video game fan, I play a lot and all kinds from old 1980's games on a C64 emulator, through to present day titles (although I usually wait for them to come down in price).

I recently finished playing King's Quest 1-6 and Space Quest 1-4 (got a bit burned out partway through SQ5 and decided to switch gears).

I'm currently playing Wasteland 2 on my iMac, and Alien Isolation on my PS4.

[foxroe]

I've been obsessing over the Elder Scroll series of games for years. Recently bought the remastered Skyrim for the XboxOne and have been (re)playing that on and off. My wife's ring tone for me is the Dovahkiin song.

[Deleted]

I did a *perfect game* (all major/guild quests cleared) for Skyrim this summer; took me, at my gaming rythm, four, or five years, on the XBOX 360. I'm considering to go back to Oblivion, but then, it's not quite the same. The HD variant is one of the reasons I'm seriously considering the purchase of a X1, but at the same time --- I'm self-employed, and between that one, and Witcher III, that's too great of an after-hour temptation.

Plus, in particular for the X360, there are a few titles that I still want to play, which should leave me well supplied with games, until the 2020s, the way I play. -_- Namely, "Dragon's Dogma", and "Bladestorm", which I've begun, but never completed.

[Deleted]

Let's resurrect this one, because I am looking for suggestions of some suitable Android games!

I played more this year, because I traveled more; given that I am a guy who got into video games during the early 90s, the last few years have been great, with all the older titles being re-released.

I just so finished "Final Fantasy V", a title that had been on my bucket list for a long time. (- But that I would not necessarily recommend.) Now, I am looking to start "Final Fantasy Dimensions" on the tablet - it features, largely, at least, the same job system as FFV, but it is longer, and supposedly, there is less grind.

Outside of that, the X-Box has been switched off for the year; the only other title worth mentioning that I played was (again, on Android) Dragon Quest III: In the early 1990s, there was an animated show based on it that I really enjoyed, at the tender age of 11 or 12. So, the game was a fun journey back --- if not particularly remarkable, otherwise.

Dragon Quest versus Final Fantasy, a comparison I make decades after it would have been even remotely relevant , leaves FF as the clear winner, to me: DQ is more traditional in its storytelling, which is a plus, as far as I am concerned, but the games are also overly difficult. FF, in turn, might carry some rather experimental narratives, yet at the same time, the player is always kept in control. All you got to do, though, is grind, and grind, and grind.

Myself, I am getting itchy thumbs, again, though - what are the titles that keep you all glued to the screen in the after-work hours?

[verhaden]

Haven't had much opportunity to play games as of late, but here a few of my recent favorites:

FTL - Faster Than Light

Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup

Big fan of Rocksmith, as I can't use my amp late at night.

Undertale is probably the best retro-styled RPG I've played in years.

Been meaning to re-play Fallout: New Vegas for quite some time. Probably the only good thing to come out of Bethesda getting the license.

[Malcadon]

I have been playing quite a bit of classic games on emulators. I have been playing some games out of nostalgia, others that are overlooked gems that I never knew about or never had the chance to play back in the day, and even some recent fan-made ROMs. There are a lot of great games to be found! Most of the emulator games I play are "Metroidvania" platformers (like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and the Shantae and Metroid series), and Zelda-clones (like Golden Axe Warrior and Spiritual Warfare).

I have been playing Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but I got board with it due to the lack of options, lack of replay, and the way the game pushes you to a single story path. If I could do mods properly, then I would really enjoy it, but that is not an option right now. Otherwise, it is a nice-looking game.

On the other hand, I'm really enjoying the hell out of Minecraft. I don't consider it a typical video game, but an open-ended exercise in creativity. You can play the standard Survival (or Adventure) mode were you are challenged buy the rules and limitations (along with the fact that the game randomly generates the world with each new game), or you can create amazing building and landscapes on Creative mode like a LEGO set with unlimited bricks. Even with the limitless nature of Creative mode, you still have limits on how you can place objects or where, but I find that working with some (non-annoying) limitations forces one to get more creative. Although, editing tools like VoxelSniper and WorldEdit allow for a greater degree of editing, and are must-have if you want to create major building projects. (I wish I had that them.) The red stone circuits also add an element of creativity and technical thinking.

[verhaden]

If you liked Symphony of the Night, Circle of the Moon, Harmony of Dissonance, and Aria of Sorrow are pretty good (GBA). I quite enjoyed Cave Story and I've heard good things about Hollow Knight and Axiom Verge.

As far as Zelda clones go, I have fond memories of Alundra on the PSX.

[Malcadon]

Dec 5, 2017 5:40:01 GMT -6 Piper said:

No patch on Skyrim, but if you "almost liked it" then you might want to check out it forerunner -- Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. Graphically cruder, it's an older game, but far more open in terms of game play. It had a "wide open" magic item creation system that was on par with what a referee might run at an RPG table. Best of all? You could easily ignore the main plot, its hooks were obvious but non-intrusive and, if desired, a player can explore the entire world without giving the quest a second thought.

I don't think I played that one. I've played Daggerfall and Oblivion, and quite enjoyed them. For all its fancy graphics, Skyrim does not compare to them.

[Deleted]

I started my "serious" gamer career with Daggerfall, and, as badly as it has aged, I remember playing this with the fervor that others had when they played the first Diablo. Skyrim took me around five years to complete, so "replay" is not really an option here, any more. I agree, though, that a lot of the story felt strangely forced, or rather "underdeveloped", which is new for at least the bigger TES games.

Another issue I had with Skyrim was rather practical, though: In difference to the earlier games, nearly no NPCs are expendable, but nearly all are killable. That becomes a problem as soon as dragons and cultists begin to attack the settlements with higher frequency; even if you take them out, they will always leave a few casualities. When I had completed the main quest, two or three towns had no more people left.

The big reason why I enjoyed Skyrim nonetheless (outside from the epic visuals) is the "Dawnguard" expansion: It offers solutions for all the earlier storylines since Daggerfall. You meet the protagonist of "Oblivion" again (hehehehe), and you finally, after five (?) games, resolve the mystery of both Falmer and Dwemer. That, in itself, made a much more epic, and much more interesting story than the very repetitive dragon fighting.

The main game, and the "Dragonborn" expansion were not half as engaging, lamentably, even though the visuals, again, were pretty amazing. But for "Dawnguard" alone, Skyrim would be worth a look.

[scottenkainen]

Animal Crossing is not only an ideal video game to me, but I was once working on a D&D campaign setting called Happy Valley that would have been very much like it, only with demi-humans instead of animal characters!

[Falconer]

These were my favorite RPG-like computer games in my childhood (all ran on Apple II or IIGS):

Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Return of Heracles
The Legend of Blacksilver
Might and Magic II: Gates to Another World
Wraith: The Devil’s Demise
Dark Designs II: Closing the Gate
Dark Designs III: Retribution!

[Deleted]

Hmm... As a kid, I was really mostly into point-and-click adventures; Monkey Island, and the games by Legend Entertainment (Shannara, Deathgate, Xanth), mainly. My first RPGs were almost all console titles, and I, too, loved the Zeldas most. - I think what really got me to stick with RPGs was Daggerfall, more than any other title; but curiously enough, outside of perhaps Sierra's "Betrayal" series, there weren't many other titles I liked to play at the time.

[talysman]

Wait, are you guys talking about playing Skyrim on Android, or on a regular computer?

I'm not really much of a gamer. I've played many video games, but wasn't all that satisfied with most. Eventually, it became obvious that what I'm looking for is immersive exploration, pretty much what you get in old school D&D (If I were to say that on a video game forum, no one would get it, but I know you guys know exactly what I mean.)

I got it a bit from Skyrim, especially with mods like Frostfall and a few extra location mods like Forgotten Dungeons, but like Malcadon, the rigidity of the quests were a downside. I had some ideas on how to mod it for more randomness and started reading up on mod creation, but kind of got bogged down.

Also like Malcadon, I switched to Minecraft. Playing survival mode and focusing on caving, abandoned mineshafts and strongholds has kept my interest for years now. Currently, I'm using a "vanilla mod" called Tyrus Woo's Game Changer, which adds random dungeons and locales as you play and really kicks it into that "almost D&D" zone.

I played very few Android games. Nethack for Android feels like a klutzy interface, but maybe I'll look at it again. There was another roguelike dungeon crawl game called Pixeldungeon that I played for a while, might be worth checking out. And I seem to recall there was an Infocom game engine that could run a bunch of old school text adventures, but I haven't checked that one out.

[sixdemonbag]

talysman brings up an interesting point:

Which games, in everyone's opinion, best simulates OD&D? I always thought JRPGs come the closest (party-based, turn-based, lots of NPCs, random wilderness and dungeon encounters, etc.) or maybe the old rogue-likes. The old SSI "Eye of the Beholder" games, for a pure dungeon crawl, are very similar too.

Many people adore the old Bioware (Baldur's Gate/Planescape/Neverwinter/etc.) games, but they never did it for me.

EDIT: As much as I love the newer Elder Scrolls/Witcher/* Souls games, they aren't party-based and their skill trees/special powers/button mashing are very un-OD&D-like. Same would apply to WoW and Diablo, etc. as much as I enjoy those too.

Sidenote: Special shoutout to Super Mario for one of the only games to honor "XP for Gold" and avoiding wandering monsters (extra HD/Life for every 100 GP!!!) 

[sixdemonbag]

FWIW Skyrim was just released on Switch. So, it's portable now.

[talysman]

Dec 8, 2017 17:59:06 GMT -6 Piper said:

Dec 8, 2017 15:05:17 GMT -6 talysman said:

Wait, are you guys talking about playing Skyrim on Android, or on a regular computer?

Well ... I've been talking about the PC versions of the Elder Scrolls games, but I won't answer for everyone else!

That's what I thought at first, but then rereading the thread, I thought people were recommending playing Skyrim on Android. Since it's technically not impossible, I had to ask...

Dec 8, 2017 15:49:47 GMT -6 sixdemonbag said:

talysman brings up an interesting point:

Which games, in everyone's opinion, best simulates OD&D? I always thought JRPGs come the closest (party-based, turn-based, lots of NPCs, random wilderness and dungeon encounters, etc.) or maybe the old rogue-likes. The old SSI "Eye of the Beholder" games, for a pure dungeon crawl, are very similar too.

I'd say the old-style rogue-likes, particularly Nethack. Quests and party-based play are an interesting option, but not a requirement, from my point of view... and in fact games that lock you into one or both don't feel very D&D to me. I haven't played most of the officially D&D games, except for the first Neverwinter Nights, and that of course had the whole skill and feat tree experience and locked you into quests and a storyline. It didn't really feel like D&D, despite having the official D&D monsters like the intellect devourer.

I played the first two Diablos and the first Torchlight, but that whole skill tree feature and the Modifier + Name approach to monsters and treasure really shifted the focus away from exploration. In fact, the whole approach of making ordinary weapons and armor usable only at certain levels annoyed me as well, something which detracted from another game I played, Dungeon Siege, although for brief moments that felt more like D&D that the Diablo-style roguelikes.

[Malcadon]

From my experience (and opinion) with the Elder Scrolls series:

The Elder Scrolls I: Arena — The game felt limited and jarring. It reminded me of a lot of other grid-heavy point-of-view RPGs at the time. It felt like it suffers due to me playing so much of Daggerfall, as if it feels like a major downgrade. I could not get too far into the game.

The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall — Although, I'd admit my bias due to this being my vary first ES title, so yeah... I really like this game! I have a lot of option with CharGen, with the ability to create a wide range of class options by messing with the (dis)ability menu. Differing reputation to be gained or lost. The range of spell and item enchanting options. The amount of superfluous/vanity items like clothing, lore books and photos, etc. Like wise, I really enjoyed reading said lore books. I love how people (including you character) can casually strut around town in their birthday suit without getting any flack for it. All the nations, guilds and temples I can be affiliated with. The way they make you work for things, along with puzzles that make you really think. The multiple endings. I would praise the scale of world (including all the communities and people), but due to hardware limitations and development time, it often feels like a great empty world with a lot of carbon copy people. And yet, when you do find that hidden corner of the earth, or access to that one unusual building that was always off-limits to you, it fells extra special when you do find it.

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire — Yeah... This would have been better as a side-story for Daggerfall... if even that! There was not much of a story or plot, nor do you get a lot of character options. All you do is run a linear maze using wonky 3D platforming mechanics. The only thing I liked is the large, slick paperdoll figures (although, there was not a lot of option with items and clothing) and some of the sexy NPC designs.

The Elder Scrolls Adventure: Redguard — I played it at a friend's house, so I don't have a lot of experience, save for the early parts of it. It looks like the game might have had a good story to it, but I could not tell, as the 3D combat system was annoying beyond measure. The 3D graphics looks good for the time, but I just could not get into the game.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind/Tribunal/Bloodmoon — I have not played them yet.

Elder Scrolls Travels: Stormhold/Dawnstar/Shadowkey — Likewise, I have not played them.

The Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion — This is more a recent title I have been playing. I have yet to complete it, so I can't honestly form a final option about the game. So far, it is great! One thing I cant help but to notice is how all the NPCs are set on their own little routine, with everyone on a set schedule, with their daily actions effecting other NPCs around them. It feels like the game is trying to make me into a creepy stalker. LOL Actually, such dept make the game feel even more immersive. I actually care more about the characters that anyone in Skyrim. The only thing I hate about it, is how it was apart of a larger trend in the franchise to be more prudish about content.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — Not counting the non-sequential 'side-story' games, I consider this the weakest title of the series. Yes, its has a lot of beautiful background, environments and graphics, but to me, that is all secondary to content. All of the NPCs feels bland and there isn't anyone I like or relate to. The lore books feel to bland. If Daggerfall felt too large but empty, Skyrim feels like a compacted microcosm of itself. Like the the major cities, for example, never feel like "cities" as they feel too quiet and sparse, more akin to sleepy villages than bustling metropolises. Nothing in the game feels valuable, as the game throws enchanted items and unique artifacts at you left and right without any challenge or effort. Any fear and awe to be had form encountering dragons quickly gets subsided what you learn that they will go down faster than a catholic school girl on shore-leave. I have seen preschool-age activity books more challenging than any of the puzzles found in Skyrim. While I like how I'm not forced to spend a lot of time fine-tuning my character from the jump by allowing me to freely play as a warrior, wizard and thief, in any combination, I absolutely hate skill trees. I do not have a lot of option with available houses, nor do I have a lot of options with the groups I can join. Although, I really enjoy having the option to marry someone of the same-sex. I really hate how I'm unable to set an object in a specific location in my house, as it reverts back to where I 'dropped' the item from my inventory or scatters to a random location, including off the map. And I find it annoying that my character is a sickly-looking dragonborn-person wherever I like it or not, and once I get done with the main story, there is nothing else to do but to finally rescue some little girl's kitten form the tree and other trivial "quests" like it.

The Elder Scrolls: Online — I have nothing to say about this, as I do not play MMORPGs, even if its based on a character or franchise that I like.

[talysman]

Dec 8, 2017 23:54:21 GMT -6 Malcadon said:

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — Not counting the non-sequential 'side-story' games, I consider this the weakest title of the series. Yes, its has a lot of beautiful background, environments and graphics, but to me, that is all secondary to content. All of the NPCs feels bland and there isn't anyone I like or relate to. The lore books feel to bland. If Daggerfall felt too large but empty, Skyrim feels like a compacted microcosm of itself. Like the the major cities, for example, never feel like "cities" as they feel too quiet and sparse, more akin to sleepy villages than bustling metropolises. Nothing in the game feels valuable, as the game throws enchanted items and unique artifacts at you left and right without any challenge or effort. Any fear and awe to be had form encountering dragons quickly gets subsided what you learn that they will go down faster than a catholic school girl on shore-leave. I have seen preschool-age activity books more challenging than any of the puzzles found in Skyrim. While I like how I'm not forced to spend a lot of time fine-tuning my character from the jump by allowing me to freely play as a warrior, wizard and thief, in any combination, I absolutely hate skill trees. I do not have a lot of option with available houses, nor do I have a lot of options with the groups I can join. Although, I really enjoy having the option to marry someone of the same-sex. I really hate how I'm unable to set an object in a specific location in my house, as it reverts back to where I 'dropped' the item from my inventory or scatters to a random location, including off the map. And I find it annoying that my character is a sickly-looking dragonborn-person wherever I like it or not, and once I get done with the main story, there is nothing else to do but to finally rescue some little girl's kitten form the tree and other trivial "quests" like it.

The mods I wish for, and that I was hoping to learn to make myself if no one else would do so, were:

1. Make stat and perk increases random, but weighted towards the skill you used, so that you never had to open the skill trees except to find out what you already have.
2. Replace the name "Bandit" and the like with apparent race (Nord, Imperial) and randomize the bandit factions so that not every "bandit" camp was actually a bandit, and you couldn't just kill everyone you saw with impunity. Also, randomize what happens after an NPC says "I yield!" so that some really do yield, some switch sides, some just run away.
3. Randomize half the quest goals (find my sword, find my book, etc.) so that the object in the quest chest is replaced with letters from another NPC or some other explanation that redirects the quest elsewhere. Also, add rival adventurers who can take the items from a chest if they reach it first.
4. Randomize when/if you are Dragonborn

Basically, just make everything less predicatble and make it possible to fail.

[Deleted]

Dec 8, 2017 23:54:21 GMT -6 Malcadon said:

From my experience (and opinion) with the Elder Scrolls series...

Woof! This was an inspiring read! Brought back many memories.

The Elder Scrolls Adventure: Redguard — I played it at a friend's house, so I don't have a lot of experience, save for the early parts of it. It looks like the game might have had a good story to it, but I could not tell, as the 3D combat system was annoying beyond measure. The 3D graphics looks good for the time, but I just could not get into the game.

Enjoyed the experience back in the day, because the setting finally got a decently personalized and immersive story. It's replay value today, I think, is non-existing, though, like with most of the 1990s 3D titles, like, say, with "Shadows of the Empire", or the excellent "Return to Krondor": It simply makes your eyes bleed.

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind/Tribunal/Bloodmoon — I have not played them yet.

Perhaps the best overall game in the series; it combines open play with perhaps the best overall TES story, and a very unique atmosphere that apparently has made it somewhat of a cult classic. At the same time, from today's perspective, the gaming experience is surely limited, because Morrowind tries many things that the later games then perfect. (Vampires, Werebeasts, followers, 3rd-person view - and obviously, Morrowind is the ugly little brother to the graphically stunning more recent games.)

The Elder Scrolls VI: Oblivion — This is more a recent title I have been playing.

Liked it less than Skyrim, which had mainly to do with the relative repetiveness of dungeon layouts; like, they had two maps for the Oblivion Gate dungeons, plus two or tree maps for the different caves and smaller dungeons you enter. Especially as you level up, that gets somewhat boring. - However, Oblivion I agree with you that O. apparently gets the overworld and the city adventures better than any other of the recent titles. The degree and the way of immersion are different, and, what I consider a serious plus is that the setting is a rather generic fantasy kingdom, and not a "themed" game: You get to explore different kinds of landscapes and settings, and the quests are not all, to some degree, focused on the metaplot. - Like, in Skyrim and Morrowind, you can't really escape your faith as the local Silver Dragon Jesus. In Oblivion, you are just a random protagonist who can develop in ways that are not directly predetermined.

The Elder Scrolls: Online — I have nothing to say about this, as I do not play MMORPGs, even if its based on a character or franchise that I like.

Just wondering - does anyone have any experience with that one? - I have not touched online games since... Ultima Online?

[Deleted]

...Hearthstone, anyone?

[makofan]

I'be been playing a lot of the rogue-like "Angband". Also Diablo 2 forever, and recently Path of Exile

[Deleted]

Is anyone into online games, by the way?

As I hinted before, I've become a rather avid Hearthstone player (super-chill with audiobooks in the background), and I'm seriously pondering trying Ultima Online at some point this year. Any experiences you guys want to share? - An OD&D Ultima guild would perhaps be fun...

[Deleted]

Nov 15, 2018 8:56:47 GMT -6 makofan said:

I'be been playing a lot of the rogue-like "Angband". Also Diablo 2 forever, and recently Path of Exile

Angband, like THE Angband?! Is it still out there?!

[verhaden]

I played UO for like 5 years straight in the early 2000's. Started on Atlantic, quickly went to various Sphere and then RunUO shards. It's a great game with the right people. Don't know if I could go back to it now, but it -- and playing Day of Defeat competitively -- was awesome for its time.

[verhaden]

Angband is still out there -- latest stable release came out in July apparently. I've never gotten into it, but I do enjoy playing it's predecessor Moria. I came across it after watching David Brevik's Postmortem on Diablo (which was the first game I played online and not just a direct-connection with my friends) -- and he notes that Moria was a big inspiration for it.

Here's Condor's (Blizzard North) original pitch: www.graybeardgames.com/download/diablo_pitch.pdf

Big fan of Diablo 2 as well, but it does lack a certain something compared to the first. Pre-ordered Diablo 3, played it for about an hour upon release, and haven't touched it since.

[makofan]

<y level 32 Dunedain Ranger died last week on level 66 to Smaug

[darien]

I've been getting back into the classic Resident Evil games for the original Playstation in anticipation for the remake of Resident Evil 2 coming out in January.

Resident Evil was a big part of my childhood in the late 1990's and early 2000's, I remember playing Resident Evil: Director's Cut on the PS1 back when I was four years old (No joke, my parents let me play M-rated games when I was little) and I loved it. Scary as hell, but also freakin' awesome.

I remember when I was a kid, the part where the zombie dogs jumped through the windows in the hallway scared me at first, but they had nothing on the Hunters. Those scaly freaks will mess you up! Better make sure you've got plenty of shotgun shells and grenade rounds to deal with them!

Earlier this year around Halloween, I proposed the idea of an OD&D game based on Dawn of the Dead (1978) but I think the same concept could also work if applied to Resident Evil.

Imagine an OD&D campaign based on the classic Resident Evil trilogy with all the zombies and mutants in the area. You could base it on the Raccoon City outbreak from the second and third games (and maybe even throw in the Mansion Incident from the first game in a way) with the streets of Raccoon City and the woods of the Arklay Mountains acting as "The Wilderness" and prominent dungeon crawls would be the Spencer Mansion, the Raccoon City Police Precinct, the Clock Tower, the Dead Factory, and the Umbrella Labs.

Think of it as OD&D once you've exhausted the "medieval fantasy" milieu and want to branch out into a different genre.

[Deleted]

A quick note from my side, if you are looking for something cheap and extremely entertaining to play:

I already tried "Dragonquest III" two years ago, on Android, but it's only this Christmas that it really ignited with me. A simplistic, but well-done game, obviously extensively updated from the NES/Famicom original. A... Cute game, more than anything else, with the charm coming not so much from the oldschool game mechanics, but from its oldschool take on fantasy in general. ....Aaaah. There it is, this 80s feeling!

[Deleted]

This is kind of cool: Luna(r) was one of the first video games that really managed to tell a complex story, and in a way that mostly left out cringeworthy moments. The roleplaying aspect, of course, like in many titles of that time, only plays a secondary role, but still so, the game manages to charm, and the visuals sure were revolutionary, back in the day.