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.
Gave Valheim another shot.
The last couple times I’ve tried it I struggled picking up momentum and progressing in the game, as the initial tutorial seems to be missing a few key steps so I end up spinning my wheels not knowing what to do next.
This time I had Christmas break time to fuck around and find out. Pushed through the initial hurdles and actually made decent progress, including soloing the first boss. It’s a solid game so far, but it could communicate its expectations a bit more clearly.
I picked up Monster Hunter World again last night after playing some Dark Souls Remastered and itching for more of that style combat. I forgot how much better it was than Rise, and I never got around to playing Iceborne. Having a lot of fun with the new stuff, and I think it’ll be my default game this week.
I don’t know what it was about Rise but something about it just didn’t suit me. Out of the 3 MH games I’ve played (GU, World and Rise) Rise was by far the fastest I’ve dropped a MH game. World and Iceborne were excellent, my only two criticisms of Iceborne is having to use the clutch claw and doing Lance dirty. You need to commit a lot of skills to make Lance viable and then even with optimal play you’re doing only average dps. Oh and and let’s give late game monsters unblockable attacks so we could also remove the one thing that lance has over every other weapon, defense. So just a heads up if you’re one of the rare lance players. Charge blade however, chefs kiss, by far my favorite archetype in Iceborne.
For me my issues with Rise are two-fold.
One, it’s because it was designed for the Switch and based off the handheld version of the game, so they were working under stricter hardware limitations and could afford to sacrifice fidelity. This felt like a step backwards after we were spoiled by how detailed and vibrant World felt. The environments just felt more artificial and “gamey” where World felt like an actual place with real creatures interacting with each other in believable ways.
Two, it’s because I don’t much like the wire-bugs. They feel out of place in Monster Hunter because they’re just a bit too OP and magical. I’m not a fan of the more fantastical elements MH has been introducing. I like the series being more grounded, and I felt World hit the balance nicely with the weapons and tools being fun and “anime” without being so over the top they break verisimilitude.
Both are minor complaints. Rise is still a great game and I did play it for a good while on the Switch, it’s just not scratching the MH itch like World does.
You don’t like fantastical elements in a world full of magical fantastical monsters? What?
Right. It’s a silly argument, I know, but I’ve been playing Monster Hunter since the original on the PS2. It had a particular vibe back then which has been slowly eroding away over the years as power creep and new, more flashy weapons and moves take the stage.
It’s not all bad change, but I am one of the curmudgeons that still thinks the insect glaive is a bit over the top for the series and that the newer entries are making the game a bit too easy with too much in-combat QoL improvements.
Interesting. I see where you’re coming from, as I played MH on PS2 and loved it. However I find all the QoL changes refreshing. New ways to play offer more flexibility and options to new people, and the game only works if others are playing it. I hated how clunky most weapons were, how hard it was just to find the damn monster, how clunky the inventory system was and it was practically impossible to figure out what I needed for upgrades without a spreadsheet. Just a different perspective I guess. More verticality and more movement options is always better, that’s why I love Rise’s formula.
Rise is the best one yet. Improves on the old formula in every way.
I have to assume you didn’t play World because Monster Hunter World made the biggest changes to the old formula, Rise is based on the changes made in World. Unless you for some reason think Wirebugs and Palamutes are the best thing ever then it’s very likely those improvements came from World and not Rise.
I played the shit out of world and even beat Iceborne. Wirebugs and palamute riding IS the best thing ever. The verticality of the maps is amazing
So if GU had wirebugs and palamutes and more verticality in areas that would’ve made it the best MH in the world and would’ve been a bigger change to the formula than World?
No, now you’re just being reductive.
I’m being reductive? You said rise is the best one yet and you said that wirebugs, verticality and palamutes are the best thing ever. I merely took what you said and asked if the last game in the old formula would become the best if it had the things you claimed make the best MH game. If that’s reductive then you’ve been reductive.
Feel free to list all things exclusive to Rise you think make Rise the best MH game to date, then imagine all those things in GU and say if you think that would then make GU the best MH even if it has no improvements from World.
I’m not saying Rise is a bad game, if you like Rise more than World then that’s fine by me. I’m just saying give credit where credit is due. World walked so Rise could fly.
I’ve picked up BG3 and I’m making bad decisions.
I gave Shadowheart a big green beret hat and now she does slam poetry.
I also tried CoD but it got boring pretty quickly.
Baldur’s Gate 3. Kids got it for me for Christmas, thoroughly enjoying every bit of it so far
Took a break from Factorio (SE+K2 mod) to play some vanilla Factorio.
Oh and Against the Storm! The distilled “just the interesting bit” citybuilder with a metaprogression frame. That game can not be praised enough.
I don’t understand what you mean in regards to against the storm.
It’s based around a city builder where you build a settlement from nothing until it is reasonably successful, takes an hour maybe, then your queen commands you to leave it to go settle another.
Each settlement has slightly different creatures populating it (humans, fairies, etc), different set of production buildings available, and different natural hazards and resources. So it is a scramble to set up production, roads and trade routes to fit the circumstances.
You also select difficulty modifier per settlement, which adds more mechanics and complexity as you feel like.
Between each settlement you upgrade your citadel, unlock new buildings and modifiers etc for your settlements.
There’s a lot more to it, but I hope that covers the important bits. :)
Cool thanks. I’ve been meaning to check it out as the visuals trigger some sort of nostalgia feeling.
Baldur’s Gate 3.
Just picked it up, never played other cRPGs or D&D but I’m really enjoying it! Not doing a lot of quests yet but just exploring. Combat is quite difficult to understand sometimes because it has so many rules I’m not used too, but I’d like to think I’m learning slowly.
The rest and spell slot mechanic is also quite interesting, as it forces me to not pick too many fights before taking a long rest. This is totally new to me 😅
For anyone interesting I’m playing as a human conjuration wizard and my party is Astarion (arcane trickster), Shadowheart and Lae’zel (battle master).
Baldur’s Gate 3 is amazing. There is so many hidden things everywhere and it does D&D better than some campaigns I played
Finally finished Inscryption! Would recommend
What a fantastic soundtrack
Play The Hex! Go in blind! If my favorite of his games!
factorio, finally i convinced my friend to play it, and now he’s addicted
I had a week to myself and binged a Factorio run, I got the “Complete all technologies” achievement with only solar and a single research station
Heroes of might and magic 3. I always come back, eventually.
I’ve been on via vcmi lately. Something about homm3 just draws me in. Have you played any of the others? I haven’t and have been wondering if they are similar or different but I have this weird fear that they will somehow ruin the special feeling I get from 3 and haven’t looked into it.
Homm3 was something I played the demo of as a kid then in later life I rediscovered it and binge it once and a while. I bought heroes 4 and 5, maybe even 6 and they just don’t feel the same. There’s tons of threads on which is best and I have yet to see homm3 come in anything but 1st lol.
I’m just running the gog version at the moment, decided I’d go through the regular campaign so I can play the official addon campaigns I had no idea about until a year ago. I have all of those as well.
Used vcmi to play it on my phone once. Does it do anything better than the gog config on PC?
It has a built in mod list and loader, includes ported unofficial addons, runs native on everything, and probably stuff I don’t know about. I used the gog versions for the assets but I haven’t actually used it as is.
I finally managed to get Spider-Man 2 so I’m thoroughly enjoying that!
I want to say bouncing between Faster Than Light and Kingdom Two Crowns. In reality, I’m looking for something else to play.
I was just thinking of picking FTL up again. Love that game. Wish there was something very like it out there to sink my teeth into.
If you’re into card-based games at all, give Cobalt Core a shot. Gave me more of an FTL buzz than Into the Breach did.
Baldur’s Gate 3. I don’t think I’m even out of the first act. I also got Jedi Survivor recently but BG3 is dominating my time.
I remember being lost as to which act was which as I got closer to being 40 hours in, and still wasn’t sure what act I was in. Turns out, that’s still act one and they are very clear when the next act starts :)
Happy playing!
Picked up Control again. Had a couple people get me interested in Alan Wake 2, and I’d already played through half of Control earlier in the year before I lost interest. I’m more into it now. Not planning on playing the first Alan Wake, but I’m playing the crossover DLC in this right now.
I didn’t really care for the first Alan Wake. And I kind of liked Control but wasn’t crazy about it.
But man Alan Wake 2 is fantastic.
Also, if you like the concepts in Control, particularly about the objects, you should check out the miniseries The Lost Room which I suspect inspired it a lot.
I finished Control and immediately fired up AW2 and so far I’m exactly with you on both, heh. I didn’t know how good AW2 was going to look, right up there with Death Stranding and Cyberpunk 2077 as some of the best-looking stuff I’ve had on my PC.
The series is an interesting rec, I haven’t seen Peter Krause in anything other than Six Feet Under.
Monster hunter 4 ultimate and Dave the diver
Gawd I love MH4U. MHGU has now surpassed it for me but I’m shocked that 4U ran waaaay better, with uncapped FPS.
After many many recommendations on here I’m playing Slay the Spire mostly, with some Valorant thrown in when I’m playing with my kids.
Help! I have a choice to make between Hades, Psychonauts 2, and Doom Eternal. What do you guys think? I’m more of a casual gamer but enjoy a bit of challenge (I liked doom 2016 a lot, but I was told eternal is harder).
I also recommend Hades. Don’t be afraid to use that “God mode”
Hades would be my choice if you’re looking to be challenged. Give it a few tries on normal difficulty, and if you’re getting your ass kicked it has a great casual friendly accessibility option to turn on a slowly scaling damage reduction that will eventually tune the game to your skill level. You can turn it off at any time, and there are no penalties for using it.
Psychonauts 2 is also a solid choice. Overall it was an excellent sequel and definitely worth playing, but if you’re looking for a challenge look elsewhere. It’s a casual platformer through and through. It’s still a great game in it’s own right, though IMO it doesn’t take as many risks as the original Psychonauts and didn’t quite hit the same emotional highs.
Thanks!
Hades is an amazing game that you can play forever. It is as challenging as you want to make it but to complete the entire story you’ll have to play a lot.
Psychonauts 2 is a great platformer. Very good for casual play. The story is great and it’s very funny.
I like doom eternal better than doom 2016 only because it has more of a rock, paper, scissors feel to the combat than 2016. Meaning you will perform a lot better switching your weapons to fit the enemy. As opposed to 2016 where you can just use whatever you feel like.
