1 yr. ago • 97%

The Weekly 'What are you playing?' Discussion - 11-09-2023

Have you been spending hours trying to pass a level? Or maybe you are completely addicted to a newly bought game. Do you have a question about a game or would like to share something else? In the Weekly Discussion Thread, you can do it all!

Please don’t forget to use the spoiler tag as soon as you start talking about a storyline.

41 comments

"The same game we play every week, Pinky. Factorio!"

Scaling up industry in order to start a space platform in SE mod. 100 hours in.

12
- I've tried to get into Factorio but my research always progresses faster than I can build things inevitably leading me to get lost. Also, the factory ends up getting too messy so I quit the game.
  
  It's become a game that sits in my library taunting me.
  
  4
  
  If you pick it up again at some point, my recommendation would be to turn down enemies, increase resources, and just ignore most of the tech. It is there to give you flexibility, and many people's first win had no trains, no nuclear power, low tier belts, no artillery.
  
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I know I'm about five years late to the party but I picked up No Man's Sky on sale a couple weeks ago and I'm having a lot of trouble putting it down! When it first came out I thought it was over hyped and maybe it was back then but I'm obsessed now. Lots of big updates since then

11
Just downloaded Guild Wars 2, never played before but the review from Skill Up convinced me to give it a try ✌️

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- As a gw2 veteran (in the sense of owning the game for a long time, not that I am very good at it) I'm pretty sure you'll like it! I honestly feel sad for how overlooked GW2 is...
  
  The community is great, don't be afraid to ask for help if you're stuck on a quest or a puzzle. More often than not people will go out of their way to help you!
  
  Never heard of skill up but now I'm curious about their review :)
  
  Edit: I haven't tried the new Xpack yet, but I've heard it's great! Might buy it later on discount since I'm not planning on playing for a couple of months at least.
  
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  Thanks ❤️
  
  1
I finally broke the shackles of Baldurs Gate 3, and now I'm playing... Split screen Baldurs Gate 3 with my wife! It's genuinely just so good...

8
Currently playing Baldur's Gate 3, 2 player co-op and it's been an absolute blast.

Recently a friend started playing No Man's Sky and I joined in to help him get started and give him some tips... Only to get re-addicted to it myself so now I'm split between BG3 and NMS 🥲

8
- We’ve never been able to get co-op to work reliably in No Man’s Sky and it seems Hello Games has no intention to ever address this. It’s a shame. We had a lot of fun when it would connect us.
  
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  Hey!
  
  What do you mean you can't co-op? I'm playing with my friend and we're actually a party of 3
  
  I'm on steam, he's on gamepass on PC, and his SO is on gamepass on xbox. So considering all this madness works, I don't see why you should have issues :(
  
  Let me know if I can help you somehow :)
  
  2
- That sounds like a really rough time split, haha. I'm impressed you've found time to sleep between those two
  
  2
  
  I think I haven't slept as little as these past few weeks. 🥲
  
  Get off work, play NMS for 3 to 4 hours and have dinner. Join my brother for BG3 co-op. Look at the time and suddenly it's 1am. Start getting stuff ready to leave only to get lost on some side quest... When I finally have enough it's 3am...
  
  2
Playing Baldur's Gate 3 and Tarkov, I tried Starfield, but it felt flat and boring and dropped it after a couple of hours. Went back straight to BG3

8
Still playing Starfield.

Game is immense in scale and I’ve been doing random quests and POI hunting and enjoying it thoroughly.

7
- I put down BG3 to start Starfield and am having a blast! Really excited to get back into BG3 though.
  
  2
Thanks to starfield I started playing Fallout 4 again, but this time with mods. And oh goodness do I like this game alot more now.

6
Just finished Sea of Stars. A random indie game I saw that looked like it would tickle my nostalgia senses, and boy did it deliver. Managed to sneak its way into my top 10 games of all time, easy.

If you're a fan of turn-based RPGs with action command mechanics (like Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi), old school isometric pixel graphics like Golden Sun or Breath of Fire, great characters, a solid plot, and good pacing, I urge you to pick this game up. There wasn't ever really a moment where I didn't want to keep playing.

It took me about 35 hours to finish the entire story and most side content. I estimate it would be probably another 10 hours to finish the rest of the side quests and get all the achievements.

6
- Woah ths game looks fantastic! ✨
  
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- Started Sea of Stars this weekend, I’m around 10 hours in and absolutely loving it.
  
  2
- really good game
  
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Aaaaand I discovered time dilation playing Oxygen Not Included.

"10PM : I'll just build this real quick, then I'll go to bed"

[...]

"3AM : oh..."

5
I am playing Railbound after it got on sale this week. Some of the extra levels are really hard and I have yet to find a solution.

Overall it is a fun little game which works great on the Steam Deck.

4
F-Zero 99.

I know a lot of people are writing it off because it's not a GX remaster, a full new game, or they've just lost interest in 99 games and think they're all generic, but Nintendo's been clear that they aren't interested in giving the franchise another shot after GP Legend, the anime and Climax tanked. I'll gladly take a small budget F-Zero, and F-Zero 99 is just great.

F-Zero 99 takes every question you'd have about translating F-Zero to multiplayer and just makes it work, with 99 players as well. Rivals and other stat tracking like rank in your machine all gives newer players more achievable goals to work towards instead of just having to flat out lose every round until they "git gud".

Switching to the boost = health mechanic of the later games was also a great choose, since it's a more forgiving version of boost, while also adding some risk-reward. You could burn though all your boost and refill when you get the chance, but that puts you at risk of dying. Expanding the boost meter with KO's is also great, since it encourages the player to actually partake in a death race for the most optimal performance, especially in Grand Prix where the meter gain persists over tracks.

The Sky Rail, while an obvious concession for 99 players, still works great as a rubber banding mechanic since it gives players who are behind the chance to jump the pack and have another shot at climbing the ranks. Meanwhile the bumpers/turbo snails that only spawn towards the from of the rankings ensure that if you do jump you actually have to demonstrate skill to keep that lead and that truly better players aren't just robbed. Not being able to use your regular boost and keep the sky rail meter is great as well, since it just adds more of the risk-reward in deciding to use it now to get access to your boost again, vs saving it for it's most optimal spot.

It's just a fantastically designed game. It really captures everything great about F-Zero, and as a big fan I'm thrilled to have it. I just hope it doesn't get Mario 35'd, and that Nintendo pays attention to it's reception and rethinks their stance on F-Zero.

3
Currently Final Fantasy XV, honestly I want to like this game but it feels like such a chore to play and it's really disheartening.

It has the spirit but honestly I am about to turn off the voices because they talk WAY too much and WAY too repetitively.

Also the side quests are way too unbalanced and the distance and time to take to go back and forth.

The day/night cycle is a bit intrusive though and it goes way too quickly imo.

The Chocobo riding is adorable and I love seeing "Con KWEH tulations!" as it makes me want to keep going.

It's my fourth time trying to play the game and I'm further than I was at Chapter 4, but I need something soon to keep me going.

The chocobo's may be the saving grace haha

3
Baulders Gate Enhanced Edition
The Forest
AEW Fight Forever

3
Just finished Goodbye Volcano High. The game is absolutely magical and managed to exceed my already high excpectations. Beautiful story about growing up, finding yourself and also a little bit about the end of the world with a sprinkle of dream-pop. I would say, it is pretty much on par with Night in the Woods or Life is Strange, so if you like this kind of narrative games, definitely give it a go.

3
Had a few day just doing my other hobby and feels like not wanting to continue where i left off in Project Zomboid, so i downloaded My Time At Portia that i got from Epic for free. So far it feels like MMO where a lot of crafting is behind timer and the majority of the game is having you craft this gather that, and the interface is all very MMO-ey and they did not try to hide it, but i love it! Perfect game for a long day of work where i just want to shut off and enjoy instead of stressing from the intensity of playing video games.

I thought i would drop it quick because it's a free game, as i drop remnant from the ashes and sonic mania pretty quickly, and i got both for free as well.

2
Just got No Mans Sky for my Switch, having to update every time I insert the cartridge is a bit annoying but it’s so much better experienced on a console than on a computer.

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Still playing Starfield. I don't see myself being done for a while.

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Me and my gf have just finished baldurs gate 3. Well, we think we have. It has crashed twice during the cutscene after what we assume is the final boss fight. Bit of a letdown at the end of an otherwise fantastic game. Also played about 10hrs of starfield. It is definitely a bethesda game. I am having fun with it though!

2
Finally completed Gears of War 5, was a great ride, not a big an emotional impact as. Some of the older games but it was compelling and enjoyable. Just downloaded Stratfield and set up the character, played the first half hour... hoping for those choices to have an impact, but from what I'm reading, is not maybe a good as I was hoping.

2
Still grinding Tarkov. Trying to see how far I actually get in this wipe.

2
Minecraft Dungeons and Mariokart 8 Deluxe. I was just playing the latter with my mom, and ordered the steering wheel joycon attachments for it which will arrive tomorrow. (Perhaps I could also connect a joycon to my computer and use the Switch wheel to play BeamNG.)

Today I also got a copy of No Mans Sky (basically Space Minecraft) for my switch because I feel it’s better experienced with a hybrid console than with a keyboard and mouse.

1
mostly peglin with some teamfortress2

1
mass effect legendary edition, I was postponing playing it for quite a wile, but Skyrim became to repetitive on last run. Blacktail, new in library kinda accidental find

1
Way foo much GTA Online while procrastinating Lego Star Wars Skywalker saga.

1
Starfield. Kinda. It's not sucking me in like literally every other Bethesda RPG has. I find myself playing for only like 1-2 hours at a time, and having fun while doing so but also just kinda not sure what I really want to do, because everything I know I want to try is locked behind some high tier skills, so I'm just trying to level up to do that shit and often just wander aimlessly looking for a quest that is more than just under a minute of my time to complete. I've done 3 semi-major quest lines so far (UC Vanguard, Freestar Rangers, and Ryujin) and they were pretty short for faction quests.

1
Valorant with my friends like 4 hours a day

1
Diablo 4. Honestly not bad, I kind of get some of the hate, but it’s super early days and as long Blizzard doesn’t turn it into mtx hell, it could go the Eternal Collection route in a few years.

Curious to see what endgame looks like.

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