(Archived 2022) The thread in which we talk about games we are currently playing

Syzygy

I think Bungie’s Halo games are probably hard to approach as a late-comer because FPS design since has benefited from refining their ideas. Halo CE is November 2001, think about its contemporaries. Someone might say Halo 3 is where it starts feeling modern, but I doubt it; probably only Halo Reach, as a post-CoD4 cinematic setpiece FPS and maybe ODST for the semi-open world and Firefight.

billy

Syzygy The thing is I don’t need it to feel modern. My favourite FPS games are probably Perfect Dark, Doom and Half Life 2. The Medal of Honor games from around that time are great too. I’ve had not-unpleasant times with a single-player Call of Duty or two. They’re all well-realised versions of the things they’re trying to be, and since I played some of them for the first time more recently, I’m definitely able to enjoy them as ‘new games’ rather than through nostalgia goggles. It’s just not clicking with Halo though.

But maybe that’s the point though and you’re right - Halo is the basic, not-good version of a modern FPS. It had limitations, but was pushing up against them rather than working within them. Perfect Dark, for example, is the better-realised version of Goldeneye and doesn’t really have any mountains left to climb in terms of design. Halo is ambitious but hampered, Medal of Honor is just a good game.

Syzygy

I don’t know: I think of Doom (and its contemporaries such as Marathon) as almost a different genre, and I definitely think that Perfect Dark had similar design ambitions to Halo CE and that Halo fulfilled them far better; and that Half Life 2 is one of those cases of benefiting from improving on Halo.

In any case, if you don’t like Halo CE, Halo 2 is an ‘expansion pack’-type sequel so if you want to try jumping ahead I’d skip past it.

yeso

probbably going to finish g string in the next couple days. Really enjoyed it. As I mentioned in the other thread, I appreciate the eccentric approach to space and level geometry. The game is a one-woman show, so it’s entirely one person’s ideas about pacing, encounters etc. Keeps the experience novel and never lapses into sanded-smooth pacing of contemporary FPS design.

Great atmosphere. Oppressive vision of nasty future: acid rain, smog hurricanes, space debris regularly crashing to earth. And surprise twin peaks

Moon

yeso

Wow, I had not heard of this. I’m def going to give it a look.

setc

yeso I plan to play G String but need to take a breather in these types of games after the trip that was E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy Hopefully, G String seems more straightforward game system wise.

compositehiggs

I’ve been playing Kero Blaster, which initially struck me as a surprisingly restrained followup to Cave Story, perhaps even phoned in but eventually revealed itself as a clever, tight, delightful spiritual sequel to NES Kid Icarus.

Jtwo

Syzygy My mom? wtf? Rude.

Syzygy

Jtwo
Sorry, that’s not my intention: “explain ____ to your mom” is how Alex Jaffe has phrased the idea of explaining an esoteric video game concept to someone with no knowledge of it, a few times on the Insert Credit Show. I genuinely know nothing about what “getting a sword” means and was curious.

tomjonjon

billy Halo 3 and Reach story co-op with 2 or 3 friends is wonderful. Otherwise halo is just kind of ho-hum in my opinion.

seasons

I played a little more of that Balan Wonderland demo that I talked about in the New Games thread. I’m not going to try and defend it or anything, as I imagine a lot of the reasons I’m enjoying the game are why a lot of people aren’t. Maybe it’s just a matter of expectation. The Naka name brings excitement- action game, but I think this game is more like what Fez was to me. The movement is sluggish. The levels sort unravel in a somewhat disorienting way. The stage layouts are somewhat bland (so far anyway). But it’s all been very pleasant. Hanging out in this world where ghostly animals are dancing and I’m feeding puff balls the crystals I thought I was just collecting has been a bit incomprehensible yet compelling. I dunno, I’ll prolly snag it on release.

captain

Zelda 1

Right now some friends and I are concurrently playing through the original Zelda and having a pretty good time with it. We’ve all only ever finished the first dungeon (or « labyrinth » per the manual—I like that this is before the series’ glossary of terms was firmly established). We’re allowing ourselves to read the manual and to ask each other for help, but no looking anything up online. I’m drawing a map!

Which I know I don’t need to do, since there is a partial map in the manual, but it’s fun. :}
The Gamecube controller is not the ideal controller for this game! Oh well.

Suikoden

Digging pretty much everything about this. The battles are fast, the music sounds good, the characters are stiffly animated at times but charmingly adult-sized (there do seem to be a lot of unique animations, though). Joining the resistance!! There’s a whole thread for this.

Dusk

The world/pop culture zeitgeist I grew up in made me believe Halo and Call of Duty 4-9 were the only shooters (I’m 24). It makes me kind of mad in retrospect that those games made me think I just didn’t like this entire genre. These past few years I’ve kept saying « Well, maybe I should give Lauded Shooter a shot since people seem to like that thing, » and I’m continually surprised by how much I REALLY REALLY LIKE first-person shooters. I like Halo 3 and had my fun with the multiplayer but it is not my favorite flavor (I share your confusion, @billy). Dusk sure is, though.
I probably ought to go and play Quake after this.
That G String game looks pretty cool!

tapevulture

captain Right now some friends and I are concurrently playing through the original Zelda and having a pretty good time with it

this sounds very fun. i played it for the first time a few years ago and also drew maps, very cool

captain

tapevulture How detailed did you make yours? You wouldn’t happen to still have a picture around, would you? :o
Sometimes I lose my sense of discipline and forget to draw a couple screens in a row, but I’d say it’s a pretty fulfilling way to play.

yeso

setc it’s totally straightforward half-life style forward momentum. Has as thick an atmosphere as e.y.e. but much leaner experience

whatsarobot

In all my months of hanging around on this forum, I can’t really recall anyone ever mentioning the Etrian Odyssey series, except maybe in passing.

Well, I’ve sunk a whole bunch of hours into every single one of those EO games, never having completed any of them, and that legacy seems set to continue as I’ve finally gotten started on Etrian Odyssey Nexus. Returning to this series just feels like coming home, it’s so comforting.

I’m rolling with a pretty standard party so far: Hero, Nightseeker and Harbinger up front, with a Gunner and a Sovereign (Princess!) in back. So far, the default difficulty level feels easiest of in any installment, but I’m cool with that. The grind-your-face-against-a-brick-wall difficulty of earlier entries was always my least favourite element of the series. But the sense of discovery is still there, and I like how many non-battle events now grant EXP to your party.

It’s meant to be a tribute to longtime fans of the series, and since I am one of those, I can’t help but feel like I’m just having a low-key chillout party with some old friends. Nice to catch up, you know? Plus, having an excuse to play my 3DS is always welcome. As great as the Switch is, nothing will ever replace the pure joy of Threeds-playing for me.

beets

whatsarobot What’s a good Etrian Odyssey game to play? I played through Persona Q and really enjoyed that, I didn’t get too far in PQ2 tho it carried over the problems of P5 (dull characters and too many attack elements).

bankbank

I just started playing FROM’s “Lost Kingdoms II” for Gamecube and I’m having a great time!

whatsarobot

beets Good question! I also really enjoyed Persona Q, and got to the last area but didn’t quite finish it.

If you’ve never played an Etrian Odyssey before, I’d say either IV or Nexus would be the best place to start, depending on what you’re looking for.

With EO IV, you’re getting the first 3DS entry in the series, so it retains more of the “classic” feel of the DS entries, before they started layering on all kinds of crazy subsystems. There are interesting class combinations to play with, without too many to be overwhelming, and it will be the cheapest one to buy (if you are buying).

With Nexus, you’re getting by far the most quality of life features, and a big sampler platter of worlds, classes and music from all the past entries in the series. It also has four difficulty options, which is more than any other entry. However, you’re getting an insane number of classes to choose from, so the very real paralysis that comes from Etrian Odyssey party building is a threat. Also it’s still pretty pricey (again, if you are buying).

Happy to answer any other questions you may have!

sabertoothalex

Jax There are some specific things in VIII I think they could have cut back on but yeah you’re right, it feels super breezy in comparison to most other games. I’m still trying to come up with the words I’d use to try to sell these games but it’s sorta just you get one in your hands and feel it and it clicks.

I’m undecided on whether to play VI before IX or not. It seems like an important one for the entire series. Toshihiro Kondo has said it was the first one to start this kind of modern Ys mythology. But I’ve heard that it’s just kinda rough.

setc The border is definitely dope, it makes the game feel like a piece of artwork lol.

yeso Yeah I’m skipping around just to make sure I don’t get too tired of one style of gameplay. So I’m trying to split it up by not playing the same style of game twice in a row. VIII is party style from Seven so I want to try a VI style one next and so on. It also depends on where good versions exist too! Thankfully I can play pretty much everything on either the Vita or Switch. I’m definitely open to going back to some of the older ones too, especially IV since Celceta didn’t do a ton for me.

Question for y’all: did anyone play Tokyo Xanadu? It’s Falcom’s more directly inspired Persona style game. I never got that far into it but it was pretty cool. The dungeons in it are Ys-ish ARPG affairs but they’re score based sorta like a Bayonetta or other character action thing. It’s a cool twist. Just not super aesthetically interesting as an entire package since it’s another modern Tokyo school JRPG.

Jax

sabertoothalex I played Tokyo Xanadu a few years ago because it seemed like the Falcom game with the least barriers to entry. It was….good, I guess? It really is more or less Persona with Ys combat. Pacing can feel a little weird (as it certainly can in Persona), and I don’t think it does characters quite as well as Persona either, but it was a fun time. Not essential by any means, but there’s something there.

robinhoodie

Banging my head against Goonies for the MSX (via MiSTER). Man I really want to like this game as I love the NES version, but it is is brutally hard. Wish MiSTER had save states now. Still of most everything I have tried on MSX this feels completely playable in 2021.

compositehiggs

robinhoodie Whenever I hear chiptunes goonies I always think of cLOUDDEAD.

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