A positive thread about what you're currently playing

Yo, the Sims 3 is a pretty amazing game if you can get past the fact that to play the entire thing costs an arm and a leg.

My simdude got married recently, packed up his shit and moved to the New York style map. He'd earned a fortune in writing novels and selling sculptures so I was able to buy the biggest lot and build a $500,000+ house with enough left over to buy a bunch of real estate in the city. Since I no longer have to work I just send my dude wandering around town, being a rich and famous celebrity. Also thanks to various perks I've bought he's immortal and never ages past being a young adult. He's going to end up a one man corporation and have total control of the entire town before long.

Why is this game so addictive and great

That game is fucking fantastic, and once you figure out the trick to weapon crafting, it becomes one of the most deep, engaging games ever. I love it. Glad to see it getting some love here.

Final Fantasy 15. While it's messy as hell, it makes me super happy to see final fantasy relevant again. I also love how it's willing to unabashedly fully commit to the bromance theme.

Finally built my first ever gaming PC.

Bought South Park Stick of Truth (2014) during this weekend's STEAM sale, and really enjoying the first couple of hours.

Started mainlining the Yakuza 0, once that story gets going it is very hard to stop and go back to running business empires. I am enjoying how the twists and turns are doled out, it is a very compelling story.

Looking forward to starting Nier: Automata next, ready for Persona 5 to arrive next week.

My buddy and I have been working our way through Wildlands cooperatively. It's been a blast. We love trying to sneak through the bases undetected.

It's been the closest thing to a single player Socom in a long time. I can only hope the competitive multiplayer has similarities to Socom as well.

@mamba219: Nice! I was playing Sims 3 myself recently (back when I was waiting for Breath of the Wild to come out). It's a game I've periodically gone back to since I got it... seven years ago now? Geez. Of all the games I own, it's easily the one with the most staying power.

Currently, I'm playing Nier: Automata. Despite my previous disinterest in character action games (Lament of Innocence was just too dated by the time I played it, Devil May Cry was the same, and DMC was offensive and otherwise just dull to me), I've kind of been on a Platinum binge lately. I got Revengeance just for the Metal Gear fanservice, but I ended up having quite a bit of fun with it. So I gave Bayonetta a try and... I didn't like it very much.

Automata's great though. For one thing, it doesn't give me a grade after each individual battle to remind me how terrible I am at these games. The sidequests and their rewards are enough to be fun and give me a sense of fulfillment. The character advancement offers a lot of options and most of them are immediately noticeable. Plus they can be redistributed at any time, so I never have to agonize about my decisions. The music's good enough that I sometimes find myself lingering in areas I'm done with, hoping to find something to do, just to listen to its BGM more. 2B and 9S are growing on me and the machines in general are cute in a very creepy way.

Nier: Automata is a great surprise! It's not perfect of course; I do have some issues with it, but they don't belong in this thread.

Just finished Windwaker and my lord is that an addicting game. It's one of those games where I'm kind of bummed to be done with it. The final fight was so good. So many puzzles in the world that were a joy to solve.

Played through Asemblance & Abzu yesterday with some friends watching and we were all pretty blown away by both of them.

I got into my nudest Street Fighter V match yet this morning. Who knew Urien's thong matched Karin's bikini so well? Also, this match had some dumb lag. I think that was my fault, turns out Dark Souls 3 had started updating for the Ringed City DLC. I don't have time to dive into that proper until like... April 7th? But I'm looking forward to it. Hope we get to fight the Serpents, really. If it's just the monster from the trailer I'll be bummed, it looked kinda generic.

Cool, it's nice to see other new players are also coming to it. I haven't picked up a threaded cane yet(I get the impression that some weapons just have to be bought from the bath messengers, you can't actually find them in the wild). I think skill can be worthwhile though, I did get good use out of the rifle spear and the blades of mercy. But I've got to admit, I was real envious of strength builds by the end of this game. They get awesome, silly stuff like hammers that explode upon impact, stake drivers, a huge pizza cutter and a cannon(some of these are in the DLC). Even after grinding levels I can't hope to match the damage I do with 40 skill and blades of mercy with 20 strength and the beast cutter.

Anyway, I managed to beat Bloodstarved Beast relatively easy by cheating summoning an NPC... But I forgot his poison had started working on me and died in the boss chamber afterwards. Felt pretty good about the fight up until that point.

I would love to see the "old" ones Tools of destruction, A crack in time, released again for the PS4, have an itch, to play them again :)

Still Remember the first time with tools of destruction, just looking at the city and then rail grinding while everything was exploding around me :)

Playing Mass Effect: Andromeda and while it may not quite live up to my expectations, it's still a fun game. I am enjoying it quite a bit. Aside from that I am almost at 400 hours played in Factorio. Damn you @vinny for that quicklook! You've eaten my life away.

I created a massive train station the other night then just sat there watching my army of logistics bots work their magic.

I've had relatives over, so I haven't played in a while, but I think I last played Tony Hawk's Project 8

The first God of War. Reminded me why I always thought it was the best in the series by a mile. Environments and combat are just incredible and it's the only game where Kratos is relatable. I had forgot just how much he gets screwed over though.

I love that Breath of the Wind is so weirdly hard sometimes. Yesterday I failed at using my amiibo. That's right. I was standing on a hill and when I used the amiibo rune it was almost on top of me. When the loot spawned the chest fell on my head, damaged me, then broke, and all the mushrooms rolled down the hill. So no treasure for me that day. I couldn't help but laugh.

@redhotchilimist: I thought the summon before blood starved beast was a lantern... Made the fight real trivial though, npc didn't even die before the boss. Cool fight anyway.

Hm, I kinda regret going skill now, typical. Ah well, it'll work out.

The classic poisoned after the fight death! Didn't Brad or Vinny do that on one of the bosses of Dark/Demon Souls?

Finishing up as much as I can of Nier Automata, and wow... a game has not blown me away so much in quite some time. I loved just about every aspect of the game, and it really hit me emotionally. Such an incredible soundtrack, too.

Fuck, it was great.

Oh boy here goes...Horizon Zero Dawn because the world and characters are awesome, Zelda because it's the most mechanically interesting Zelda I've ever played, Halo Wars 2 because I love Halo and RTS' plus the art is very reminiscent of Halo 1 and 2, Yakuza 0 because Yakuza 0 and finally Mass Effect Andromeda because it's so good to be back in that universe! I love it all!

path of Exile.

Decided to give it a try with a friend, what a breath of fresh air coming from Diablo 3. There's so much to this game; from the massive skill tree in which you can make the character to your hearts desire to the skill gem system, prophecies which give you a random bonus or enemy to fight when you enter a new area and amount of content they give you. It's so nice to play a game in the style of old Diablo with everything being new.

Just finished up my long playthrough (again) of Dragon Age Inquisition. Played through all 3 dlc's as well and really enjoyed them. Might either play through as a mage next or hit up FF 15 for reals, since today's patch updated quality of life stuff. Course I might just wait to see if any other story/gameplay patches get added before I decide to dive in.

The smart move though would be to just wait a week for Persona 5. After that, maybe Andromeda with be patched up enough to warrant a playthrough.

Played GTA V single player recently. It still is an absorbing open world sandbox that is the most complete in its verisimilitude and which attempted something novel using three characters to move the plot along, with the heists being the centerpiece of how it all comes together and instructive of the game's startlingly successful multiplayer mode.

Whenever I've had free time I've either been playing breath of the wild or playing a couple matches in for honor. I haven't played a Nintendo game in forever, I borrowed a friends Wii U to play this and man am I glad I did. I just want to explore every nook and cranny of that game. Even places that I can't see, the names on the map make me want to visit. How could you not stop by the lake of the horse god?! There's so much to say about that game. On pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum fighting fools in for honor continues to be a blast, I love how that combat feels and looks. I'm also deciding on if I should buy ME:A (even with all the negativity around it I'm sure I'd still enjoy my time with it), or if I should just wait till persona 5 which will be my first persona game and I'm pretty excited about it. There's also the second dark souls 3 dlc that sounds like it might be really good and Nier:automata will be played by me at some point too. I still haven't even finished Horizon zero dawn. There's so much good stuff out there right now.

I went back and checked out the new additions to Chapter 13 in Final Fantasy XV as Gladiolous. That game is quite pretty and I like that they added some Ravus story.

The campaign for Infinite Warfare is fun. Kind of hits a lot of the beats from every CoD since Modern Warfare, but I like the occasional breaks from running and gunning.

Mass Effect Andromeda

It's . . . adequate.

I've been playing Toukiden 2 for the past week. After months of amazing, new games, it has actually been kind of nice to go back to something that's merely "pretty good." I have a soft spot for the first Toukiden, as it was my gateway drug into the hunting game genre. The switch to an open-world format feels completely natural for this kind of game. The new weapons, improvements to the old ones, and the revamped magic and crafting systems have been great. The game even tells you how to get all the crafting materials, so you don't need to spend time searching through a wiki to figure out how to get that one item you're missing to craft that new piece of gear.

Some of the clothing textures in Mass Effect: Andromeda are inexplicably ugly, but I really like how the environment you're in has a visible effect on your character's armor.

I am Setsuna seems delightful.

Got Breath of the Wild when the Switch came out. I'm 50+ hours in. I clearly recall how happy it was when I met another person in the game. Excited someone was alive in what seemed like a barren land and then finally finding a small settlement in the stable.

Also playing Bloodborne for the first time. Man that game keeps me on my toes. I was really lost in the Forbidden Forest(?) ran into the bosses and lost. Happiest moment was beating the Blood Starved Beast. I had so much trouble with that one. I remember I was streaming so a friend could watch and I'm saying all these things and really happy I finally beat that boss. Then realized My mic was unplugged the whole time.

Finally, Yakuza 0. Its quirky and fun. I always get a kick out of that series.

Playing BOTW. Super pumped that I didn't have to buy a Switch for it and that my WiiU is getting some good use. Pleasantly surprised that it runs as well as it does on that hardware as well.

Also, what a great game to play too!

I just started a New Game+ on Witcher 3. I pulled the trigger on this after spending months looking for a few missing POIs I was probably never going to find without the icons anyway.

And now I am looking at months of proper Witcherin' again, provided the increased difficulty doesn't render it unbeatable. I am stoked to experience it all again, having forgotten everything but a few select story beats.

After five years I've finally found the time to make that insane solo run in Gears 3... that game is just fun to play

I've played the early parts of Snake Pass and its joyfully calm. Once you get the hang of gripping with the left trigger to stop slipping (very important) it becomes quite easy and intuitive to manuver round any obstacle first-time. Playing this game is like sitting in a meadow on a warm day with a slightly cooler breeze flowing over you.

Started playing Nier Automata. It is fucking fantastic! Just wish I had more time to play it.

#152 Posted by Mamba219 (203 posts) - 2 days, 3 hours ago

That game is fucking fantastic, and once you figure out the trick to weapon crafting, it becomes one of the most deep, engaging games ever. I love it. Glad to see it getting some love here.

Vagrant Story is the best! :D

Finished Mass Effect: It has the best combat of any Mass Effect game. Some of the bugs are genuinely funny. I will save mony on Persona 5 by trading it in.

Dark Souls 3 - Ashes of Ariandel
Some very pretty snow and ice in this DLC. The non-aggressive crow people of the Painted World are terrifying to look at. I like the two first phases of the Sister Friede and Father Ariandel boss fight quite a lot.

Happened to get a copy of Persona 5 early. I've always been super interested but haven't ever taken the leap. SUPER glad that I did though! Spent a little over two hours playing last night and made it through the first dungeon sequence. The setting, characters, and story really grabbed me. Can't wait to go back. It's going to be a long day at the office...

Beeing playing primarily Horizon Zero Dawn. I am almost 30 hours into it and I still can't get enough of it. The world is breathtaking, the photo mode just really brings that out. I absolutely love the combat. The way the bow feels continues to amaze me, each time I play it.

I have still been playing some NBA2k17. Which even as someone who doesn't follow the NBA but likes basketball, I've been very much enjoy it. Each game isn't too long and its been quite fun.

I also have been going back to Cities: Skylines which I absolutely love. I've got 90 hours into and I can't get enough. Its a game I seem to play in bursts. I'll sink 15 hours into it and then stop for a month. I love it. Anyone with a semblance of interst in a city builder should play it. Its so much fun. I love building the transit lines the most I think. Maybe I missed my calling as a city planner.

Titanfall 2 is awesome! It controls so well! I'm mad at myself for dismissing it so easily last fall.

It's been a From Soft week around these parts as I've played the final Dark Souls 3 DLC, The Ringed City, as well as the Old Hunters DLC for Bloodborne. I prefer Bloodborne as a game, but this DLC isn't half bad. I got a cool new weapon that's just a flame shaped like a sword, and they brought back the one sexy outfit in the series from Dark Souls 2.

My Bloodborne character also found a hot new outfit of sorts.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4 was fun to play through and reminded me of how THPS5 should've turned out with level-unique goals and interesting level design. Although spending $30,000 just so you can unlock the final level is a terrible way to gate content and where I call it quits.

I'm overseas right now and don't have access to many games. So I decided to try Stardew Valley again. I got it last year and played it for a couple hours and liked it, but it didn't grab me enough to keep playing it over the dozens of other games I wanted to play.

It's got its claws deep in me now. It really is one of those "Just one more turn/run/day" sort of games. I have a goal in mind when I wake up every in-game day, but there's so much shit to do I end up going all over the place. And the music is so good! And it always feels like you're making progress in some way. And there's always something to be working towards. And secrets!

I'm pretty sad that I already know the game's going to get pushed to the side when Persona 5 comes out.

Finally got around to finishing Chalice Dungeons in Bloodborne for the Platinum. That was a bit stressful, but I'm glad I came back to it. Well worth it in the end.

Mass Effect Andromeda is, in my opinion, better than the general consensus of "s hit blows, bruh".

Shadow of Mordor. I love just running into a bunch of orcs to start a fight and being swarmed by like 40 of 'em (not being sarcastic). Although the combat is basically Batman, and the climbing/traversal is streamlined, the game it reminds me of the most is AC: Brotherhood.

Games like that, where you can just run around in the open world and make your own fun, make me wish they would de-emphasize story and not try to force you through a scripted series of events that may not even match up to how you play the game outside of those story bits. I'd love to see a game that tries to organically tailor a story to how you play the game... Shadow of Mordor, with its Nemesis system, comes closer to this than any game I've seen before, but it still makes you trudge through the pathetic-Gollum bits and the not-at-all-Tolkienesque orc/Ranger-collusion storyline.

Almost certainly, though I can't remember a concrete example.

I managed to completely stay in the dark about Mass Effect Andromeda because I knew I'd be playing it upon release regardless, and I must say that Brad's score surprised the heck out of me. I'm absolutely loving it so far. I feel like it's everything that ME1 was trying to be and then some. There is so much to do and the cast is my second favorite behind ME2.

There are some minor framerate hitches and graphical wonkiness here and there, but nothing worse than a Bethesda game. The biggest con for me, though, is how close Andromeda's release is to Persona 5. I'm about halfway through, percentage wise, at 40 hours in and, unfortunately, it's going to take a backseat to Persona. I'll probably end up playing through it again over the summer dry spell.

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Along with that is MLB 17, which is by far the best entry since the PS2 days. It's silly to say, but the ball physics are spot-on this year and that has a huge impact on actually feeling like you're playing baseball. The player likenesses are ridiculous this year, too. It's nuts how close the players look to their real life counterparts.

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Overall, very happy with my gaming purchases so far. I've stayed in the dark about Persona 5, too, so I'm really excited to see how they follow up P4.

Well I've been playing FF7 and finally beat it for the first time. I have put it off for so many years and I was surprised how much I liked it, actually. The materia system is neat.

Playing Dragon Age: Inquisition with my wife for the first time. There are some definite QOL issues, and the characters and areas are uneven, and too many of the side quests aren't fleshed-out, but we're still really enjoying it. There are some really cool ideas, like Skyhold, and the world is as interesting as ever. We've also been very impressed by the graphics, but from an overall atmospheric standpoint and because of the attention to detail. The artists put a ton of work into little things that you'd never notice if you don't take a second to stop and look around.

I managed to beat Maria in Bloodborne first try and I'm pretty freaking stoked about that. I'm sure she's not the hardest boss exactly, but I felt real slick dashing around her attacks. She was one of the few parts of Bloodborne that I hadn't seen beforehand on youtube. I also hadn't seen much of the Fishing Hamlet, and that place is cool.

Finished Yakuza 0's main story. I love this game. Making Majima-san a playable character in this plot is one of the coolest things Sega has done in years. Not only is it one of my favorite games set in the 80's but it's also one of the best wrestling games I've ever played. Lot of great wrestling moves and high spots throughout the combat. I know come the end of the year people will still be creaming their pants over the Nier soundtrack but the music in Yakuza 0 really is terrific and deserves a call out or two. It's crazy that the structure of this game isn't that much different from even the first two games in the series, which are essentially evolved versions of River City Ransom (and Shenmue). However it adds just enough weirdness to its styyyyyyyle and gravitas to its story that I can't recommend it enough. Not sure if I'll go down the 100% completion route since I merely rented it but there is a ton of variety in the side quests that could keep you busy for hours and hours if you so desire, and most of them feature a goofy weird conclusion that are often worth a laugh.