Patient gamers, which games have you discovered/played this week?

Just finished the 5 main endings of Nier Automata and enjoyed it! Wanted to see what the fuss was about (especially after seeing the meme about how doitsujin was motivated to develop DXVK to play it). Enjoyable time and I plan to get all the endings.

Next on my list is Mini Motorways and Alien Isolation :)

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If you're a sucker for side content, there's a ton of short stories and novellas (even a musical) that the fans have translated: I just got Ending E | The Ark Wiki

Kept the setting alive for just a little longer, and added some more context to the world and characters. Massive spoilers for anyone who hasn't beat Automata though.

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I got into Guild Wars 2 last week. I really like the fast progression, it's the opposite to every other MMO i've tried that makes you grind hours for a level. I'll reach max level pretty soon after only 10 hours or so playing

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GW2 is really refreshing compared to the traditional MMOs

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You probably would have liked Guild Wars 1 as well. You get to max level (level 20) well before you finish the content, and the rest of your advancement is farming mats for high level equipment and stealing elite attacks from enemies to unlock them for yourself.

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I’ve been playing Kingdom Come: Deliverance (2018) for the past month or so. Haven’t been this immersed in a game world in a long time. Sure it’s a bit janky at parts and gets a while getting used to, but the world is beautiful and the attention to history and realism is incredible!

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Another convert! Once the game mechanics clicked with me it's been the most immersed I ever remember being in a game.

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I started playing that one a couple of years ago but found myself horribly lost on one of the introductory quests (I think the first lockpicking was what did me on?) and kinda lost interest from there. I can see the appeal though and at some point I'll certainly circle back to it

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- It's worth getting into ahead of the release of the second one in a few months time
  
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Deus Ex Mankind Divided.

Just getting started, but it's been pretty fun so far. Not really appreciating how much it echoes the current happenings in society, though...

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The dev for that game recently said if they made it now the story would have to be very different because of the echoes with current events.

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- That's interesting. Do you have a link, by chance? I'd love to read more
  
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I played it last week. It was fun. Definetly better than HR.

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to avoid disappointment: It doesn't end... it just.... stops

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Mankind Divided has some too close to home moments but the first game? That shit was almost like a playbook of the next two decades, it's actually nuts.

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I've reinstalled Sims 3, because I wanted to play the Sims but just can't deal with the broken cash machine that is the Sims 4. It took a decent amount of effort to get it to run, and it doesn't run very well, but it mostly works. And... it's so good. I forgot just how good it was.

I'm amazed at how much there is to do, and just how well my sims can take care of themselves - when playing 4 I always just made 1 or 2 sims, so that I could control their every move bc otherwise they'd be stuck doing something useless on a loop. Here I can have a family of 4 and actively play just one of them, and the rest will cook, clean, do homework, and generally look after themselves while I'm not there. It's amazing how they had this figured out so many years ago, and regressed so horribly.

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I was REALLY patient for this one but: Silent Hill (ps1). I tried to play it last year, ran into the creature in the alley at the very very start and immediately turned it off. Too spoopy for me. Finally decided to try again because the Silent Hill lore is just way too fascinating. Have made it through a lot farther this time (just passed the dog house now) and still going strong.

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You are in for a real treat when you make it to the second game!

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If you or anyone else is interested in playing more, I recommend:

Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams (aka Director's Cut). Not a continuation of the story of the first game, but a separate story in the same universe. Generally agreed to take everything good from the first game and improve upon it. The "Restless Dreams" version has a substantial extra scenario which adds some backstory and lore, but should probably be played only after completing the main game.

Silent Hill 3. This one does continue the story of the first game, somewhat. To be honest I remember enjoying it but not much in terms of particulars.

Silent Hill 4: The Room. Started out as a separate game unrelated to the Silent Hill mythos, but was rewritten to become an SH game during development. This sounds like it might be a terrible cash-in, but it really is a perfect fit for the SH universe. IMO almost as strong as SH2.

Silent Hill: 0rigins. A PSP game set as a prequel to the first game. A little light on story, and with some odd combat mechanics, but I still found it very enjoyable. I played the later PS2 port.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. A "reimagining" of the story from the first game. It plays and feels very different to the previous games, but I still enjoyed it quite a lot.

Silent Hill: Orphan. A series of point-and-click adventures for Java-enabled mobile phones from the 2000s. Totally different mechanics from the mainline games, but they do the atmosphere and story well if you don't mind the slower pace of point-and-click. They run on some J2ME emulators.

Silent Hill: Alchemilla. A free fan-game centered on the Alchemilla Hospital, but also including several other locations. First-person view with many puzzles and no combat. Very polished and really nails the atmosphere.

I played a little of Silent Hill: Homecoming but got tired of it about 1/3 of the way through (I guess). I also bought Silent Hill: Downpour but gave up on that even more quickly. I don't recommend either of them. Things introduced in the earlier games for specific psychological reasons related to the plot - especially sexy monster nurses and Pyramid Head - tend to be regurgitated in the later games for no real reason other than "Silent Hill", which removes their impact completely.
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- You forgot the greatest one of them all:
  
  Silent Hills: Playable Teaser :>
  
  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bjDmGGtglEY
  
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I'm playing Hidden Folks (2017) on Steam Deck, to chill in the evening, it's probably the best where's waldo game on steam ? I don't find the cats series at all engaging

I also reinstalled Darkest Dungeon (2016), this time for sure I will commit to it and not stop after 3 runs 🤡

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I'm a big fan of Darkest Dungeon, but I'm also a chronic restarter. Building a roster of heroes is fun, but permadeath is so punishing. I have a similar problem in XCOM where you spend so long in a campaign building up your roster, then you lose your ace squad and the whole thing unravels

I really enjoyed Darkest Dungeon 2. There are some radical changes, but it still hits the core vibe and offers a more roguelike experience. Even if I fail my run in spectacular fashion, I'm able to start over on the next one. Far less frustrating than a whole new campaign

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- I've only played the demo of Darkest Dungeon 2 so no idea about the changes, I liked the cart riding segment, it's a fun way to take breaks between battles, I'll take a look !
  
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I love Hidden Folks! Hidden Through Time is another that's basically the same but with color.

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- I only ever heard about the name, sounds super fun, thanks!
  
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There is a series of tabletop games called MicroMacro that are sort of the same idea with a similar art style if you are into that. You have to solve various mysteries by tracing sequences of events. Good fun either solo or with friends.

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- Oh yes ! I discovered those thanks to Shut Up And Sit Down's review, they look super fun
  
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Monument Valley 1 & 2.

Quite short but excellent. I love good games that I can play with my 9-yr old daughter (like !pixeldungeon@lemmy.world)

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Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun. Got it for free on Epic a while ago, tried it, and didn't finish the first mission (got stuck at the final part).

I picked it up again after upgrading my steam deck's storage, and this time I did finish the tutorial! It is fun to play so I hope it sticks for a bit :)

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One of the finest games of the genre. Enjoy!

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Similar that you may enjoy but set in the Wild West:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/307670/Hard_West/\ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1282410/Hard_West_2/\ https://store.steampowered.com/app/1097350/Weird_West_Definitive_Edition/

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I've been playing through factorio

For the seventh time

...I don't have a problem

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It can be considered a new game now. You can grow your factory on other planets! More! More!

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- Just plowed my first spaceship into the middle of an asteroid field. Thank the devs for a making a "First trip to other planet" autosave!
  
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Castlevania dawn of sorrow thanks to https://retroachievements.org/

Their weekly highlighted achievement is beating one of its bossos

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I've finally gotten around to Mindustry after seeing a post about it in a FOSS community here. Hell of a game!

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I'm in the same boat. I've made some headway but they weren't kidding, it's hard! I'm still struggling on new maps managing my time between building defenses and ramping up industry. I definitely prefer the part after finishing waves where I can relax and perfect my build.

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- Same here. I am thinking about finding a mod that either lowers the difficulty a touch or allows you to focus on the industry more. The waves start to get frantic fast.
  
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One of the bases near "Nuclear Production Complex" has shut my attack down... twice. Last time I was around wave 70 when it ended. I could just barely scrach their core bases with each attack. Several hours...

I had to give it a break after that. I was routing conveyors in my dreams but with a perpetual sense of doom.

Good game though. I really like how it addresses any gripes I have when playing factorio. The whole time I felt it was a little easy, but not anymore!

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I've been playing Hollow Knight this week. Working on Pantheon 5 for the last achievement. Made it to Traitor Lord last night. Best run yet!

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I've been playing RimWorld again after learning two more DLCs came out since I was last addicted. I fucking love Biotech. It adds furries! 😃

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I'm also on my first biotech play through. Long way to research the genetics stuff but I got a pig man working for me so it's fun.

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- I've got it all researched, but the storyteller is being an asshole and not giving me any female colonists to actually do any bioengineering (need babies; can't make babies without women). I have a colony full of men that all hate each other. Half of them are bi or gay, too.
  
  But at least I know the growth vats work great because I also set the child age rate to x100 (regular age speed for colonists) so a lot of the recruits are between 5 and 10 and have to be aged to be useful. Age 'em up to 13 and then use bioscultpers to keep them there forever :D
  
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Tomb Raider (2013). Played it once for a few hours with a friend on PS4, but we never had following sessions. So now I bought it in a bundle with TR 1-3 and play the first reboot game after finishing the remaster of the 1997 title (also for the first time) last week.

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I started playing Darksiders 3 (2018) over the weekend. Never got around to play it on release because my PC couldn't run it back then.

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Just in time. There have been teasers hinting at the final entry in the darksieders quartett

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- Yeah, the announcement made me remember that I never played part 3.
  
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Quake II remaster (?) by Nightdive in co-op with a friend. It‘s alright. I see it more as a video game history course, everything kinda looks the same so it hasn’t held up too well IMO, but it‘s a good time in co-op. And thank God they built in a navigation system lol

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Not sure if you played the original version but the remaster adds new attacks to some enemies and changes some of their behaviours. It also seems to have changed some enemy spawns, I think. It made the game feel fresh in a way I wasn't expecting for something I probably played through a few dozen times lol.

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- I actually have not played the original which is why I was interested in playing the remaster since it‘s such a classic. I ended up liking the Nightdive-made DLC maps and the N64 port the most tbh.
  
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Probably too new for the sub, but baldur's gate 3 since it was.on sale and my birthday's coming up

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I think the criteria is one year, and BG3 is definitely older than that

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Been playing FFXII international, been quite enjoying it so far.

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Slogging through FFXIII here. It's super linear and repetitive, but just what I need right now.

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- Yeah, I wasn't able to get through xiii, too linear. XII is nice, mostly linear with some bounty hunting stuff to keep it fresh.
  
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Shadow of the tomb raider (2018). Had to wait to be able to upgrade my computer to play it and after 3 years of owning the game I've finally started it!

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Planescape: Torment

I haven't played a lot infinity engine games and I've struggled with understanding what the game expects of me in terms of gameplay. Hopefully I'll internalize that eventually but I've been enjoying the writing and vibes so far even if the gameplay feel a bit frustrating and a bit like a chore at the moment.

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Updated my journal.

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I could never figure out how to get out of the first area in that game lol. I wondered around for so long doing laps and just gave up.

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- Yeah the way I got out was a bit cryptic, although I think there are multiple ways. I'm shameless enough to use a walkthrough when I've been stuck for a while, otherwise I'd be having an even harder time.
  
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finally going back and playing dark souls remastered as someone who has only played demon's souls. so far it feels very familiar yet different. definitely has that from software jankyness.

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A lot of the jankiness is gone in the later games. DS1 feels really clunky after having played DS2 and DS3.

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I just reinstalled NFSU2 because of the new big expansion mod underground2.net Between this, my brother wanting to play Halo, and the new Linkin Park album coming out this week, I feel like I'm in 2004 again.

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Not that old, but I've been playing some Far Cry 5 recently since it went on decent sale for 14 bucks on steam and I was bored.

I remember being amazed at how good far cry 3 had been all those years ago, and I know that pretty much every far cry since has been a similar game with a different skin and some updated mechanics.

The whole "home grown USA cult" does hit a bit more interesting these days, but I honestly keep finding myself shaking my head because it feels like reality is somehow more ridiculous than this far cry game in that essence.

Game is fine, I am enjoying doing the same shooting over and over as a little mental break . I feel like this game is a real missed opportunity not having a set, voiced protagonist. Choosing your blank, voiceless murder machine makes every cutscene awkward because everyone is just talking at you instead of having actual dialogue or growth.

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Tried Tetris effect today, last time I played Tetris was on the nds so this is quite the upgrade!

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A Mortician's Tale was a nice relatively short interactive experience about what it is like to work in that occupation and its ups and downs, and an opportunity to reflect a bit on the reality of death.

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I really liked this game. Felt like the perfect length for making one introspective about death.

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Tooth & Tail. Bite sized R^aTS

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Haven and Hearth. It's apparently a fairly old MMO, and I think I picked it up after it's mostly dead, but it's still a bit fun. The low population left in the game honestly might be saving me from grief while still learning the game.

It got the visuals, difficulty, and finality of Zomboid, but more of a rust style game play where you're just a naked person with rocks and sticks building huts. I still don't know fully what I'm doing, the goal is still just don't die.

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Got my hands on a PS5 pro. Started playing Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection (2015). Never played the original games, always wanted to. It's also funny to think that I'm playing a PS4 title that is a remake of PS3 games on a PS5.

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Watch Dogs

Fun, but sometimes the difficulty seems to be all over the place, particularly with running from pursuit. Sometimes you can lose them in a minute or two, other times the game keeps spawning in new cars in front of you with no way to dodge them without the ones behind you catching up.

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BioShock Infinite Burial at Sea 1. Not quite hooked yet because ammo is almost too scarce to call it a shooter. But I want to like it.

Also playing Dead Cells, which is great but the higher difficulties are very very hard.

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Back 4 Blood.

You know what, it's not Left 4 Dead 3, but I love it. It feels like L4D meets Call of Duty. The card system really makes the game for me; building better decks to play higher difficulties with more chaotic corruption cards.

The corruption cards especially make levels so much more replayable than they already would be. Getting fog over a level or a different type of ridden mutation appearing spices things up nicely.

It's also extremely beautiful at points. I love the graphical style. It's colorful and a tad cartoonish at points, with some genuinely disgusting visuals and insane ruins thrown in for good measure.

I wouldn't buy it for full price, but the $9.99 I paid for the full game + DLC was more than worth it, in my opinion.

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Recently I've been playing Airline Tycoon Deluxe, Sims 3, Battle Brothers, Kerbal Space Program and Prey.

I think the newest is Prey, from 2018.

Airline Tycoon Deluxe is from 1998 and still fun (at the beginning, eventually you just make tons of money, use it to do more of the same to make even more money and it stops being fun). It helps that it's a 2D game and the fun is in the management mechanics rather than related to anything visual.

By the way, they all run on Linux, though I had to literally pirate the Sims 3 to get it to work even though I own the game.

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My last week has been filled with Marvels Midnight Suns. XCom meets deck builder meets dating simulator-lite. I’m having a blast, considering none of those genres are my forte

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I loved Marvels Midnight Suns! Exploring the grounds, finding kitty, then slicing people up with Hunter and Wolverine!

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Touhou 8: Imperishable Night.

I earned my first-ever 1CC there three days ago, on the Easy difficulty (ignoring the perennial "easy modo" memes within the games' fandom), and slowly but surely, I'm learning both the fundamentals and the strategies towards passing various stages and spellcard patterns; hopefully, with enough practice, patience, and a bit of foresight, I can move up and do another 1CC on Mormal (both Finales), either with the Border or Netherworld team.

As for everything else, I found myself enthralled with the lore, story, and the music in this game, as if it were timeless, in a way. I'd say I like Eirin's boss theme the most, befitting for someone who's lived through time and knows everything diligently.

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So as it turns out the original FlatOut is a very different game from it's sequel, and is a pretty unique and complete game of its own.

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Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.

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Echoes of the past!

incredibly fun.

I've only been playing a few hours, but I am having a blast.

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Zen Pinball 2 on PS Vita. Got every single table, played few dozen and still got a ton left.

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I dunno if I just discovered them but I was playing Sexy Parodius and Harmful Park. I'm really bad at both.

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Started Trauma Center 2 and 7th Dragon 2020, both sequels to games I played last year. The first one I only played for 10-20 minutes so far though, the latter would probably be unbearable without turbo mode via emulation. Actually, 7th Dragon DS already was, but the story and setting is mildly neat, and I might be hungry for games with more party building. If you fast forward to the dragon/boss fights it's alright.

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Project Borealis Prologue. Not patient at all.

But also Silent Hill 2 Enhance Edition.

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War Thunder Ground Arcade Battles is fun on team voice chat.

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Haven't played it yet, but just got the copy of Ratchet & Clank Future Tools Of Destruction in the mail today. Looking to hopefully start at least a little bit over the weekend.

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I just started Lair of the Clockwork God and I think it's definitely worth a look. You play as two characters, one who is "point and click" (can't jump, only move and interact) and the other is a platformer (can jump, can't interact). It's pretty interesting, and the puzzles have been fairly easy but still cllever.

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Half Life 2... The price was right!

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Intoxicated driver, free on steam Just good stupid fun

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