What are you playing this weekend?

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Civilisation 6

I bought this on Switch in an attempt to finally learn how these games actually work. I appreciate how it starts you off slow and slowly adds systems, but I'm 120 turns deep in my first game and have NO clue what's happening. I'm playing around with religion and culture but the in-game explanations aren't very good.

But it's good, I'm surprised that the "one more turn" mentality is gripping me despite my confusion. There's always something new to tinker with. Plus, the Switch controls and UI are very good. It runs quite slow, and the muddy visuals sometimes make it hard to see what's happening, but that's a small price to pay for portability. It's amazing that I can fling my saves over to the PC and continue playing!

Just...Gotta do a lot of reading outside of the game before I can truly understand what I'm doing. I'm hoping this time it clicks with me.

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ZeroRanger

Back to the grind. I've been streaming my 1CC attempts for this pretty regular and I'm getting so close! It is such a perfect shmup, so well balanced with tonnes to discover. I can't wait to finish my 1 loop 1cc so I can move onto the second.

A_Unicycle wrote:

I bought this on Switch in an attempt to finally learn how these games actually work. I appreciate how it starts you off slow and slowly adds systems, but I'm 120 turns deep in my first game and have NO clue what's happening. I'm playing around with religion and culture but the in-game explanations aren't very good.

This is an elephant you need to eat one bite at a time. Maybe focus on a single system (trade, religion, culture, warfare) and ignore the others while you learn? Your civilisation will inevitably crash and burn since you're ignoring other stuff, but it might give you the focus you need to really learn the cause and effect relationships of one aspect of the game. I imagine that there are "Let's Play" sort of videos available too.

I tried to get into Crusader Kings II recently for about the fourth time and once again bounced off it really hard. I think it was during the tutorial where I was trying load troops onto a transport and the game basically refused to do it, nor offer up an explanation as to why not. I decided that if the UI is that sh*tty in the beginning, it's probably not worth banging my head against in the later game. So I share your frustration at some of these more complex games. Haha!

Coldstream, as I recall, the ships you're loading the troops on have to be in the sea space, not in a port. Might that be it? Also, there's a limit to the strength points a ship can carry, and many ships can't carry troops at all. Either of those could be your issue, I guess. Check the navy display to see if you have troop carriers present.

CK2 takes a long time to figure out, but don't give it. It's worth it. Just remember, it is *in no way* EUIV, or even a wargame. It's a noble family simulator.

Don't be afraid to ask in the CK2 thread if you have questions.

What are the big 3 ARPG's?
D3, PoE and... Grim Dawn? Torchlight(2)?

Torchlight 2 is definitely a notch above Inquisitor but it does suffer from Double A jank that to me does not put it in the top tier. And especially with PoE and somewhat in D3 there is active development that Torchlight lacks.

Grim Dawn has more active development that D3 but it lacks refinement. It is not necessarily to the point of Double A jank though.

So to me, the first tier is D3 and PoE.
The second tier is Torchlight 2, Grim Dawn and then Inquisitor Martyr barely hanging with that group.

Grim Dawn would be my third, and I'd rank it up with D3 and PoE. Great variety of gear, interesting skills and classes, and solid gameplay.

I'd put Torchlight 2 with IM and, what was it, Van Helsing? Each had their moments but they have more flaws than the others above.

ARPG Hierarchy

1 - Diablo 3, PoE, Grim Dawn, (Torchlight 3 at some point perhaps), and upcoming sequels in these series
2 - Inquisitor and most cool-looking indies of note: Wolcen, Last Epoch, etc. (note: have not played Wolcen or Epoch)
3 - Random obscure ARPG I sometimes stumble across on Steam

that's my general feel for the genre as of today.

To me, Wolcen and Last Epoch are a notch above Grim Dawn. Sadly Chaosbane is not...
Wolcen took a long time to get rolling. It was very basic and hence the dual resource system was an impediment. I am looking forward to release as recent videos seem much more slick than when I last played.

Last Epoch was in a really good state 6 months to a year ago. Then they went dark when I was hoping for news of a pending release.

Picked of Escape from Tarkov. I've only gotten a few rounds in, but I am really enjoying it.

fangblackbone wrote:

Then they went dark when I was hoping for news of a pending release.

huh? In the last 6 months, they have what, 2 or 3 updates of large proportions? The latest a few days ago.

Last time I tried Wolcen was when they had 2 or 3 maps. I liked it but they clearly needed more time. Guess I need to dive in now?

How did I miss Last Epoch? Boughtened!

I've been playing Anodyne which was (and still is at the time of typing) £0.79 on the PS Store. It's an interesting modern throwback. Simplistic yet engaging mechanically. An ace retro aesthetic. A wayward yet intriguing tale. The story may or may not land, we'll see, but I am enjoying the journey whilst it's up in the air.

I also picked up Mafia III after some glowing praise reminded me of its existence. I'm both hot and cold on it. It plays well. The driving is fine. The on foot traversal is good. Combat has stealth aspects along with firearm and melee choices. Nice. The early cast and our protagonist are well voiced, and well received. It just hasn't felt quite Mafia as of yet. It has a different style, a different flair.

More Heaven's Vault. I was literally translating Ancient in my sleep two nights ago. I think I've figured out enough information to get to what I assume is the final location, but there's a few more things to explore first. I'm pretty sure I also found another way to get to the final location, but it'd have some very negative consequences, so I'm not touching that one.

Wargroove has some free DLC out today, so I'll probably look at that too. Looks like a co-op campaign that reminds me of Advance Wars Dual Strike. I'm not sure if that's a great thing, but it's not a bad thing I guess.

I think I am going to finally play the single player in Titanfall 2.

Probably Control, Ring Fit Adventure, Danganronpa and grab bag PC Xbox Game Pass. I see that they've added Final Fantasy XV which I've been interested in.

I'm still playing Sims 4 on Xbox One and have written up a bunch of things about my game over on the Sims 4 forum, so won't do a lot here, but as of last night, Adam and Eve Spiritus have had their baby heir, Abigail, so the first generation of my alphabet legacy has begun! I've also started an official Vampire Council over in Forgotten Hollow. (I bought the Get Together expansion and made a vampire social group.)

Abigail? Not... Amy?

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Robear wrote:

Abigail? Not... Amy?

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LOL I need this heir to live long enough to have her own baby!

I'm pretty hooked on Ni No Kuni II now, so I'll be pushing through that, collecting citizens for my kingdom wherever I can. Soon the world will crumble before the might of true love!
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I'll also be running through some of the coop tombs in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.

UpToIsomorphism wrote:

I think I am going to finally play the single player in Titanfall 2.

f*ck YES.

Probably more Laser Death Factory (aka Mindustry).

Persona 5
Breath of the Wild and hopefully some FFXIV to keep advancing on the story

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51 hours in, and I think I'm close to the end of the main story.

Spoiler:

I've broken the purple barrier at the Fear Palace or whatever it's called, and just knocked the gatekeeper out of the way

I'm tempted to go back to Ni No Kuni II after this, but I'm really bad at the little RTS battles. I might just start a new game of AC : Odyssey instead.

No idea what I'm going to play this weekend. Possibly nothing! Not sure what I'm going to do instead though...

I'm hoping I'll have time to start The Evil Within 2.

Noita, Stoneshard, Star Traders: Frontiers, anything else that seizes my fancy.

Might dabble a bit more into Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, though I've been hitting a wall. Should play some Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines and The Witcher 3.

Might do a little bit of Little Nightmares, Toejam & Earl: Back in the Groove, and/or whatever else my dwindling attention span fixates upon for more than ten minutes.

bobbywatson wrote:

No idea what I'm going to play this weekend. Possibly nothing! Not sure what I'm going to do instead though...

I just remembered that I started playing Tomb Raider II (PC) last week. So, more of that, probably. (I'm about to get to the sunken ship.)

I'm in the final chapter of Trails of Cold Steel, so I'll try to finish that off this weekend.

Played a bit of Castle of Illusion starring Mickey Mouse (the 2013 remake) with the 3yo. He was captivated!

Hoping to finish Escape from Monkey Island. Not sure what else. A cold has got me firmly in its grips....as well as half of the family, so it'll be a lot of viscera....er.... snot and puke cleanup detail.