What game are you playing?

[Elgarian Redux]

That is what I felt about Red Dead Redemption. The sequel was harder for me to get into due to the slow pacing of the very long prologue. The laggy controls didn't help either (at least on Xbox). I've heard it is much better on PC. I plan on playing it soonish since I now have it on PC. I've heard from multiple people that RDR2 is their favorite video game of all time.

I think the people who played the original Red Dead Redemption inevitably get a different perspective on the whole thing. (For a start, they already know John Marston.) But I came with a clean slate, as it were, and came straight in with Arthur Morgan and no experience of games consoles at all. I had nothing to compare RDR2 with, but I was won over straight away by the breathtaking landscapes and the sheer extent and richness of the world. The prologue didn't trouble me because (a) I found it really useful. I remember spending several hours just trying to figure out how to fire a gun by shooting at a tree!
And (b) because it was just so fantastically beautiful, in all that snow.

The story arc of Arthur Morgan moved me immensely. When I eventually reached the first climax of the game, I was inconsolable, and wept and wept like the old softie that I clearly am. My first response to completing it all was to simply start again. I've lost track of how many times I've cycled through, now.

At some point I played the original Red Dead Redemption (I bought a 2nd-hand PS3 purely for that purpose). And while I enjoyed the experience, it wasn't life-changing, as RDR2 had been. I think it must be much harder to go backwards like that, as it were.

Having been so thrilled by RDR2 I tried  several other open world games: Witcher 3, Skyrim, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Horizon Zero Dawn. But they left me cold - not because they're bad games (I'm sure they are excellent in their way), but because they weren't what I was looking for. They were so clearly games. I came to realise that I didn't really want a game, as such; I didn't want to 'beat the game'. I wanted something more like a theme park holiday, and RDR2 seems to be the only game that can offer me that kind of experience. Plus, of course, it's a western - the kind of thing I dreamed about as a boy.

[DavidW]

I finished Veilguard. When I return home I will either play RDR2 or Fallout New Vegas.

[hopefullytrusting]

Currently replaying: Max Payne 3, Reperfection, and Trauma.

Currently playing: Bleeding Moons and The Charnel House Trilogy.

[hopefullytrusting]

Man, looking at my fame libraries - hundreds of games, and not a single one to play.

Ironically, I only want to play one game: Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, but I need a better computer than the one I currently have to play it.

Interestingly, at least to me, that is quite literally the only game I can think of wanting to play.

I feel as if my phase of playing videogames is (or has) come to an end.

[arpeggio]

I play board games.

Does that count?

[hopefullytrusting]

I play board games.

Does that count?

Board games are bad ass.

I've not played one in a long, long time though.

I had a lot of fun playing them though.

[DavidW]

I play board games.

Does that count?

Since I am the OP I say... YES!

[LKB]

Board games are a hoot. Anyone who thinks otherwise, simply hasn't found the right one yet.

Among my favorites: Monsters Menace America.

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/17835/monsters-menace-america

[Karl Henning]

I've reached level 1302 of a ball sort game, which is probably ridiculous, but I'm not sure I care.

[arpeggio]

My wife and I like the Command & Colors Series.

[DavidW]

I played through Spiderman Miles Morales. It was fun but not nearly as good as the first game, and it felt like a DLC that was sold as if it was a full game.

I then started Alan Wake 2 on the PC which is great until it crashes. That is one too many games for me to continue to think it is a game problem. It clearly is my PC. I've researched how to exhaustively stress test my PC and found that a program called OCCT revealed defects in the MOBO when GPU, CPU, and RAM are slammed all at once. Something the tests I've used before did not show.

I've decided to replace the MOBO and CPU. Sadly, my PC build from a year and a half ago was so bad that I replaced every part as defective, except for the NVME drive. I didn't have that problem with previous builds.

[LKB]

I've been having serious connectivity issues with Diablo IV. Once every few days things will be stable for as long as an hour, but most of the time l get booted within five minutes... exceedingly frustrating.

So for most of my gaming time, I'm playing the Discovery v4.88.1 mod of Microsoft's Freelancer. No connectivity is required, and blowing up invaders with a space-battleship seems to be a fairly therapeutic activity. 😀

[DavidW]

BTW that completely worked and I've been happily playing Alan Wake 2. The game is so much nicer on PC. I'm not even talking about graphics, but the UI just feels natural with keyboard and mouse and annoying with a controller.

This was a natural choice for me coming off of Twin Peaks. This game (far more so than the original) is a love letter to Twin Peaks.

Alan Wake is stuck in the writing room by an evil spirit. Alan can only leave the dark place in spirit by writing himself a story that he can move into. His doppelganger is rewriting reality using Alan's gift. And the FBI agent who came to town, Saga Anderson, is finding herself being written into a narrative around a town that she had never been to before.

The story breaks the fourth wall frequently, is very meta can be dark, but also comedic with even song and dance numbers. The characters are quirky. It feels like a Lynchian experience as a video game.

Oh, and the coffee...

[hopefullytrusting]

Just got a new laptop from work, which means it might be able to play Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

I'm hopeful, but won't know until tonight.

[LKB]

So my MSI laptop turned into a brick about a week ago, and I'm now the owner of an Asus gaming laptop. I've had a bit of frustration with Windows 11 trying to turn it into a half-a$$Ed AI platform but l think l have that issue licked, and for gaming it's a dream... so I'm happy now. 

[DavidW]

Just got a new laptop from work, which means it might be able to play Deus Ex: Mankind Divided.

I'm hopeful, but won't know until tonight.

I loved that game. There is also much to explore in the city, interesting things outside the quests. It is the opposite of the bloated open world.

[DavidW]

I played a bit of Star Wars Outlaws but didn't like it (bland and repetitive, and doesn't feel like Star Wars).
I replayed Call of the Sea, I forgot how tricky some of those puzzles are! It has a Lovecraftian story, and I highly recommend it.
I tried the Silent Hill 2 remake again, but I just don't like it. It breaks the pacing of the original.
I played through Hellblade 2 (nice to get through it without crashing). It felt unfinished at the end, and it was not as good as the first one. The game underemphasized puzzles and combat, just leaving walking and cutscenes. Too often, people call a game a walking sim when it is not, but this time it frankly is.
I tried replaying Mass Effect, but it was been one too many times. Time for new experiences.

Which leads me to Death Stranding, which I started yesterday, which Kojima has made into the oddest Lynchian like game. A truly surreal experience. I'll have to see how I like it.

[hopefullytrusting]

I'm currently awaiting the release of Lunar Remastered:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3255380/LUNAR_Remastered_Collection/



Been wanting to play this game for a long time (I emulated, for a bit, Eternal Blue, but I found that an unsatisfying experience, so I am very excited to have access to everything, all at once).

[DavidW]

BTW I did not like Death Stranding.

I played Beyond Blue, which I liked very much. You just swim around finding whales and dolphins to scan. As you progress, you unlock clips from a real documentary, and a small story plays out in the game. This is the ultimate chill-out and just experience a world.

Now I'm playing Spiderman 2. Finally, having good villains again. I also like that it doesn't throw all these combos at you for you to memorize, like Miles Morales did. But I'm not a fan of having three different skill trees, so many devices and suits to unlock and upgrade. And the sheer amount of crap in the world... it is just classic open world bloat that is dated for this era. Even Ubisoft says "yikes!"

Really, I'm just waiting for finally having an Oblivion remaster. It looks like it will release tomorrow. I hope they fix the leveling system, which is what has made it hard for me to return to the game. I think story wise, and level design wise it is much better than Skyrim, but the stupid leveling system has crippled the game, which is why Skyrim is far more popular. If you don't know what I am talking about... the entire world levels with you. That can easily result in the enemies being too trivial or overwhelmingly difficult. It punishes you for not being extremely careful about when you choose to level up, and what you choose to focus on.

[LKB]

Lots of storage space on the new laptop, so l downloaded World of Warships.

While the game is both a) significantly monetized and b) shows a rather puzzling lack of polish considering how long it's been available, I'm having more fun then frustration, so l may stick with it for a while.