Title kinda says all.
I'll have my own reply later.
Special weekly question:
What are you most anticipating for 2024 in terms of games?
Morrowind my beloved. I have to admit that I didn't like Skyrim when I tried it multiple times, but the moment I figured out how morrowind works, it became one of my favorite games ever.
Tamriel Rebuilt is probably the objectively best mod ever made.
Also, Xenogears for the PS1. Fun gameplay, if a bit lacking, but great music and art direction and the narrative is very interesting. I haven't finished it yet.
What game am I anticipating for 2024? None, really. Hopefully a new mainline SMT project will get announced, I guess.
Tagging those that were in the last thread:
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@JuryNullification@hexbear.net
@WittyProfileName2@hexbear.net
@wtypstanaccount04@hexbear.net
@HiImThomasPynchon@hexbear.net
@Gosplan14_the_Third@hexbear.net
@Cigarette_comedian@hexbear.net
@ClimateChangeAnxiety@hexbear.net
@theposterformerlyknownasgood@hexbear.net
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@pakratt0013@discuss.tchncs.de
Enjoy! Make sure to read the OP and title.
Ciao.
Last few days mostly been playing Valheim with my partner. Super fun except yesterday she wandered into a late game area, got killed, and rage quit when she couldn’t get her stuff back.
Few days ago I had her play The Stanley Parable since she somehow missed it a decade ago, finished that in an evening.
Before that we played through Prey (2017), since I had never finished it. Great game. 10/10.
Started playing Strange Horticulture. Mechanically it kinda works like Papers Please except there doesn’t seem to be a harsh timer. I’m not very far in though. Love the vibe.
Still need to finish Spider-Man 2. I dropped off after Christmas but I only have a handful of things to finish to 100% it.
There really isn’t much I see that I’m looking forward to this year. Im hoping Cities Skylines 2 will update enough to be good. I’m interested to see if Star Wars Outlaws is any good, it seems likely it’ll suck though. Hades 2 enters early access but I’ll wait till it finishes.
Yeah my expectations are on the floor. It’d be nice though.
I’m interested to see if Star Wars Outlaws is any good, it seems likely it’ll suck though.
It'll be fun in like 5 years when you pick it up for free/cheap and drop it when you get bored of the Ubisoft gameplay loop lol
I contend that losing items on death is a bad mechanic and has never been good
Started Baldur's Gate 3! Normally DnD-type games with turn-based combat aren't my cup of tea, but man is this game awesome. I can tell it was made with love. The characters and the acting is awesome. I made a seldarine drow cleric of Eilistrae (she's a purple girl 🥰 ) and I'm romancing Gale. At first I thought he was a pompous know-it-all but he quickly grew on me as a passionate nerdy lonely boy 🥺. Also Astarion bit me.... lil shit >:(
Also got my Pyromancer in Grim Dawn to lvl 100, but I'm not sure wtf I'm doing with my build lol.
Warframe got a new story quest so I'll be playing that soon.
As for the year? I'm not really sure, haven't been paying attention to what's in development currently. I just hope there's something quality-made by talented individuals that isn't over-hyped and broken like what's been happening lately lol (cough Starfield )
Isometric RPGs are generally a no go for me, I think literally the Ubisoft dialogue cutscenes helped keep me interested and invested in the characters enough to almost beat it.
Recently finished:
RDR1 (full playthrough)
FFVII remake (literally had the final boss fight left, the Shinra HQ sequence left me really fatigued because of the high density of boss fights each requiring that I redo my loadout)
Currently playing:
FFVII (psx) - just started this weekend, decided a full playthrough might be fun before the remake part 2 drops
Metal Gear Solid - been meaning to play through the franchise. Hoping a collection with MGS4 drops in the next year or two because emulating it still a pain
LoZ Wind Waker HD - my current commute game on my steam deck
I also have emulators set up on the Steam Deck. It's not all that hard and there's a helpful youtube guide that makes it even easier. https://youtu.be/Y5r2WZAImuY?si=fK1IxrKoXc1cQVok
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Used emudeck, very straightforward process for the most pary :)
It's super easy, but I'd recommend downloading some kind of mega pack of BIOS files in the right format for RetroArch. From experience I can tell you it's a pain in the ass to rename all those files to correspond with what all the different emulators want.
Metal Gear Solid - been meaning to play through the franchise. Hoping a collection with MGS4 drops in the next year or two because emulating it still a pain
Don't fall for the people saying you can just watch it. It's like 99% true, but that 1%, comes right at the end, just can't hit the same
RDR1
What'd you think?
Metal Gear Solid
This is probably my all-time favorite franchise. You should definitely play it.
I liked it. The world was less full of activities than the sequel, but that made it a lot easier to stay focused on story progression. Liked the writing a bit more than GTA games, but that's partly because the political satire in GTA is kind of just ok and ends up detracting from the story somehow.
Nice! I haven't played it since the first year of its release, but it was definitely in my Top 3 for that generation.
Just bought Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic and going to give it a try, seems like a far more systems complex Cities Skylines. Still playing BG3 and upgrading my rig to actually play Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p now that it's finally in a playable state. Been also buying some indie games to try like Sommerville, Seasons, Chants of Senaar, Trepang2.
Finished Jusant (still haven't 100% the game but overall a 8.5/10 experience) and The Invincible (good adaptation to a Stanislov Lem novel with good additions by the devs such as a clear cold war style conflict with a US style gun crazed space power). Also picked up Darktide again post recent updates and fixes, major improvements overall but still very lacking for a purchased game when it comes to player customization being to close to a F2P game in how you unlock cosmetics.
Still grinding my way towards being the best Jamie player in Street Fighter VI. Its a long road but I do feel like I'm getting stronger.
That aside: OMG y'all! I bought a valve index and its the first thing that's gotten me to take a break a street fighter in a while. Superhot VR is low-key my runner up gaming experience of the last year. I also have been enjoying the hell out of pistol whip. It makes for an insanely great cardio workout during the cold season here when I can't go for my daily run cause its like 11 degrees outside. I have a huge backlog of games to get through now.
Future plans: I am going to try to play the entire Half life series in VR starting with the black mesa remake and culminating in Alyx over the coming weeks/months. My VR legs are starting to get pretty strong so I feel confident I can do it without motion sickness being a huge issue. I've played a segment or two and it definitely makes the experience radically different. In other news: I also have this radical urge to replay Shadow of the collosus with some of the more recent HD texture mods so I might try and fit that one in.
Sidenote: apparently there's a Deus Ex Remaster project that has a VR element as part of its scope and I am gonna lose my noodle if/when that drops.
In terms of what I'm excited for in 2024: man I don't even know. I don't really follow game releases anymore these days. I guess i'm excited for whatever balance patch plans and future DLC Capcom has for SFVI after capcom cup for sure. Otherwise I still have such a huge backlog of games to play right now I can't imagine picking up new ones.
Play Alyx ASAP imo. That game convinced me that VR has truly arrived and has unbelievable potential. Except it hasn't, since Superhot VR and Alyx are still the only games that really grabbed my interest.
I hear its amazing. My reasoning for putting it off is that everything I've heard has said that the biggest problem with Alyx is that its a double edged sword because it is the greatest experience anyone has made thus far in VR and nothing else anyone has made out there has come even remotely close. I kinda wanna savor it a bit. Right now everything is still new and fun and I'm worried if I jump into Alyx it'll just leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
Your plan is good regarding waiting a bit for Alex.
VR games/experiences I'd recommend trying:
- Moss
- Moss 2
- Elite Dangerous
- Hyperbolica
- VRChat can be fun still sometimes
- Beatsaber is in my trio with HL:A and super hot for platform defining. I'd recommend going modded for it as soon as possible to play custom tracks
- 3DS games with stereoscopic 3d cranked all the way up in Citra. You'll play these within Big screen VR app with SBS enabled on the Citra window in game (I'm glad to help explain this more if you're interested)
- PS3 games via RPCS3 with stereoscopic 3d render mode turned on (same setup as above)
- GC/Wii/N64(VC) games via Dolphin with stereoscopic 3d render mode turned on (same setup as above)
- Full-SBS 3D movies via SkyboxVR (or Big screen if you can get it to work- I couldn't in the past)
What does this mean:
PS3 games via RPCS3 with stereoscopic 3d render mode turned on (same setup as above)
Just 3D gaming? I looked it up and all I saw was someone playing a game in a virtual theatre or something
couldn't tell what was going on
Have you ever seen a 3D movie before? It's that experience but you're controlling the characters on screen. It's also the best form of it because everything in the scene has depth.
If you've played a 3ds with the 3d mode turned on it's the same thing except the the effect is way better in VR because of the screen resolution/differences in the 3d projection technology.
The bright side is that there's a lot of 3rd party campaigns. Also, if you ever get the chance to try it with the bhaptics hardware (vest and sleeves) it just bumps up the amazingness of the experience.
Been on a minor FPS kick with Mothergunship and Doom 2016, and my FF14 group is revving up for our third ultimate. Good stuff all around.
I've been paying almost zero attention to upcoming games for years now so I have no idea what's in 2024 lol
I recently finish Paranormasight. It's a graphic novel game where you have to deal with and investigate a series of deadly paranormal events. Really strong first half, slightly weaker second half. I enjoyed it overall though.
Currently playing Lies of P. Really liking it so far after feeling unimpressed by the pre-release demo. I'm still in early game so I can't say too much, but so far I feel like the difficulty is pretty good. I've certainly had a better time of it vs. Sekiro, which is one of the Soulbourne games it's similar to. Never played Bloodborne, since Fromsoft has forsaken PC users
, but it feels like this is as close as you can get to it.I have a giant backlog of games. I'm probably going to play either Yakuza 3 or Atomic Heart next.
In so far as what I'm looking forward to for 2024... probably Hades 2 without a doubt. Loved the first game and still want to go back and check out some of the other bits of story I haven't completed aside from the main storyline. Mecha Break is probably the only other game that sticks out in my mind. AC6 has me interested in mecha games again and it'll be interesting to see what other studios bring to the table.
Playing Xenoblade Chronicles, about to drop it because it's a single player MMO. Someone tell me it gets better after Xorn.
Looking forward to the new Yakuza and Unicorn Overlord. Skeptically optimistic about the new FF7, this game will make or break the company for me. It has to be good or I'll never purchase SE ever again.
I think with the Xeno games, you either love them or you don't. No need to keep pushing if you aren't having fun. I have all the Switch games but am waiting for a time that feels right to play them. I'm afraid I won't like them even though I was a big fan of Xenogears.
Yeah I guess. I think I was meaning that I liked Takahashi's storytelling and world building? Idk.
I did not like them for the same reason and was told the games probably just aren't for me which seemed like good advice.
Nice I just started playing duolingo to practice my terrible spanish a little bit
Word. I had like 2 and a half years into their spanish but had to stop for a while. They don't make it easy to come back and review to catch up, I've noticed. It just expected me to pop right to where I was and I couldn't keep track of what lesson reviews I was doing unless I wrote things down, which I was horrible about. So I ended up all in on Japanese for the time being. Also it's kind of a pain to switch back and forth between languages. I'd like to get back to it though to better understand what's happening down South. Now that I think about it, I may just load up Duolingo on an old phone and start Spanish from scratch once I feel like I've got a handle on the non-kanji Japanese symbols.
Well I already speak a little bit of spanish so im not really starting from zero. My spanish is just rusty af and I dont use it enough. Funny enough I considered to start japanese as well buuut If I ever bother with japanese I would probably do it more seriously and I would need more ressources than what duolingo offers. My brother is fluent in japanese though (more of a weeb than me I guess...he even lived in japan for a while)
English is not my mother tongue.
Gotcha. Yeah, I've thought about buying a book on kanji and some other stuff. I was actually watching a TV Tokyo stream last night practicing my reading on some home shopping network type show. I saw a very impressive space heater.🤣
Word. I wouldn't have known.
My friend and I are almost done playing the Saturn port of Symphony Of The Night, the Super Mario RPG remake, and Resident Evil 1 remake on GameCube. By myself I'm not playing anything currently. Thinking about what breezy game I should play to get back into things. Maybe Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury or something.
Games recently played:
Finally got 'round to playing Control last month, was a big fan of Alan Wake (less so Alan Wake's American Nightmare) so I don't know how this game escaped my attention for so long.
Replaying Hollow Knight, trying to get the secret ending from beating the boss rush.
Picked up Outer Worlds after having not thought about it at all since, like, the week it launched. It's a lot more lib than I remembered. That said, when I helped some trots fix their newspaper then overthrow a socdem the game didn't treat it like a bad ending, so it can't be that bad.
Games I'm anticipating this year:
Avowed - loved PoE 2, curious to see if Obsidian can keep the magic (pun intended) as a first person action RPG thingy.
Replaying Hollow Knight, trying to get the secret ending from beating the boss rush
That was a serious pain, mentally and physically.
I need to get back to Hollow Knight. It's my 3rd playthrough but I tried to beat Sisters underpowered and just kept dying and getting more frustrated.
Picked up an original steam deck for fairly cheap ($300) off facebook marketplace now that the new one has come out. It's still a bit early to say definitively but it's really transformed how I integrate playing games with the rest of my life; the quick suspend/resume reduces a lot of friction compared to rebooting to Windows then starting the game on my PC (especially since I often stream it to my TV in the living room with sunshine/moonlight, adding another step). I'll often be idle or need a break then decide to play a tiny bit of whatever game I have on the go.
Lately I'm alternating between playing Pizza Tower and Dark Souls II: Learner of the Original Wrongdoing. Pizza Tower hasn't totally hooked me yet, but I have a feeling that once I start focusing on perfecting/keeping my momentum/combo going rather than just getting through the level I'll really start to love it, since it has some mechanical similarity to the shinespark puzzles in Metroid Dread that I loved so much. Dark Souls II I'm playing because I've played & greatly enjoyed most of the rest of the series (DS1, DS3, Bloodborne, Sekiro) and even though it has a reputation as a bit of a black sheep enough people say they enjoy it that it seems worthwhile.
Looking back on 2023 I played 16 games, of which two really stood out: Into the Breach and Return of the Obra Dinn. The first one was honestly so stressful that I couldn't keep playing it, but absolutely loved what time I did spend with it. My only critique is that I wish the balancing were such that you don't have to complete the first two islands with absolute perfection in order for a run to go all the way, which contributed a lot to the stress. Return of the Obra Dinn occupied the entirety of a very pleasant Sunday, sitting at a table with a giant ledger notebook and my steam deck, painstakingly pinning down the details of each murder. A very neat analog feel that was unique among other games I've played. Can't recommend it enough if you're more of a low-speed person!
What am I most anticipating for 2024? I think this will probably be the year that I play Elden Ring, maybe in the dog days of summer. I also picked up Alan Wake 2 for anomalously cheap with the recent epic sale so I hope to play that too, if my PC can run it well enough.
Yeah I've found that of the big media formats of books/games/shows/films I can pick two categories at most if I want to enjoy many of them at all in a given year. So I'm a books/games guy, and essentially watch no shows or films in a year (maybe one movie every two months or something).
