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[SirNiko]

If you're going to build an SRPG with individual level-ups, the best way is to allow the player to deploy all characters at once and use them all every turn, like in Vandal Hearts (which is my gold standard for fun SRPGs). Final Fantasy Tactics was a prime offender; having a huge roster and only five slots to deploy was obnoxious, especially since there were more than enough special characters to fill up the entire roster.

Valkyria's method is good for having a huge roster you swap out, with possibility for permanent death. Although in the late game the extra units tend to be superfluous - base-rushing with Alicia gets optimal really quickly. A lot of levels I wind up winning with only Alicia.

The important thing, though, is that it's just really fun to play even if you aren't going for optimal one-turn victories.

[cynicalsandel]

well i just beat wind waker hd in 3 days. was a pretty good time. been awhile since i played the gamecube one back in the day. enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than when i played twilight princess earlier this year.

the whole gyroscopic aiming was annoying, but still slightly less so than the second analog stick.

[Nillo]

It's really hard to put Undertale out of your mind. I'm playing Shovel Knight and enjoying it but as soon as I close the window I start thinking about Undertale again. It's... very influential.

[gimymblert]

[JWK5]

Started playing Dark Souls 2 again, decided to start a new character and eschew my DEX-based sniper ways and play as a cleric. There is something unsettling but incredibly hilarious about the mace's rear attack. In my head I imagine it makes a cartoon "Splat!" when the enemy gets pancaked with it. Also, healing people is fun. Well, people I am not pancaking with the mace anyways.

I've also been slowly but surely wrapping up Dragon Age: Inquisition. I am not really liking how each area looks different but functions entirely the same, often with the same enemies and setups. It is like they tried to create these massive areas but had no real ideas (or maybe no time) to actually fill them with anything significant. Oh well, that aside the game's been pretty fun and for whatever reason I haven't really endured any more major glitches for quite some time now. I don't know if they patched them out or if I just moved on far enough away from where they were happening.

Oh, and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare never gets old.

Never.

Gets.

Old.

NEVER!!!   

[Tanner]

i got to the final boss in undertale but now i'm scared. any advice for good healing items and things i may have missed? spoilers, obviously. also, undertale is easily my GOTY so far. it's hard to see a game topping it.

[Nillo]

i got to the final boss in undertale but now i'm scared. any advice for good healing items and things i may have missed? spoilers, obviously. also, undertale is easily my GOTY so far. it's hard to see a game topping it.

If you're playing normally, then I don't think you have anything to worry about in terms of healing for the last fight. Just go in and do your best.

If you're playing the asshole route, well... you're gonna have a bad time.

[Dragonmaw]

It's really hard to put Undertale out of your mind. I'm playing Shovel Knight and enjoying it but as soon as I close the window I start thinking about Undertale again. It's... very influential.

#yiffy

(it's great)

[Faust06]

Finished my first playthrough of Deus Ex 1. It still holds up very well. The enemy AI is simple and visuals are obviously dated but not ugly, and don't hinder the experience in any way.

There's plenty I could say, but one thing that stood out to me is that the environments are fun to explore. This matters more than anything else. These can be surprisingly large and intricate as the game progresses, and often offer multiple paths to success. Both the dialogue and voice acting are well above-average even today, save for NPCs in Hong Kong and France for whatever reason. Bob Page is a great villain. Add to that I like the way the story/conspiracy steadily unveils itself. The total game time was also longer than I expected.

I had played Human Revolution upon release, so the way I draw comparisons is backwards in this case. From memory it had a fair number of nods to the original. Some new mechanics were great (i.e. influencing others through speech), some fluffy (takedowns). Environments were nice to look at, but "less" in every other way, 'cause realism (and budget, or w/e). Dialogue more often interrupts gameplay, which is a symptom of modern gaming as a whole. I remember veterans of DE were mostly biased against this release, and I can understand why, but it's kind of unfair.

I'm inspired to try Thief 2 next. Though TowerClimb's full release is out on steam so maybe that.

[Tanner]

woaaaah just beat undertale. i'd have to do a full restart to get the true ending, though, because i genocided the ruins without realizing what i was doing. i really do want to get the true ending at some point, though

TEM/TEM, would play again.

[cynicalsandel]

trying to play through skyward sword because i gave up before the first dungeon the last two times i tried. made it through the first dungeon this time but now my arm is tired.

[Türbo Bröther]

I had played Human Revolution upon release, so the way I draw comparisons is backwards in this case. From memory it had a fair number of nods to the original. Some new mechanics were great (i.e. influencing others through speech), some fluffy (takedowns). Environments were nice to look at, but "less" in every other way, 'cause realism (and budget, or w/e). Dialogue more often interrupts gameplay, which is a symptom of modern gaming as a whole. I remember veterans of DE were mostly biased against this release, and I can understand why, but it's kind of unfair.

I've been meaning to go back to that the past year or so but I just can't drum up the motivation to do so. The most positive I can be about it is that you can get a lot of comedy from accidentally on purpose doing lethal take-downs when you just wanted to knock a sucker out and positioning bodies in various compromising positions and you have to laugh because dragging bodies around is a right royal pain in the arse.

But the actual game. It looks like Deus Ex, it's got all the sneaking through air ducts, ghosting maps, crate stacking, bypassing security systems and awkwardly delivered lines that the fans want but it's missing that crucial immersive sim element. DX was basically a Looking Glass Studios game, it was the next in line after Ultima Underworld, System Shock and Thief and did that lineage proud. HR seems to only have paid lip service to its forebear/eventual sequel despite having a difficulty setting that promises much.

[s0]

the original deus ex was like a culmination of everything warren spector had tried up to that point. it's basically thief + system shock + UUW in one game. HR is "just" a pretty good sleek looking stealth action game with dialog trees. i guess not every "reimagining" of an old gam can be as good as xcom EU. HR's good for what it is tho.

also i dont know if its even possible to make a better "warren spector game" than deus ex 1, other than remaking deus ex 1 with updated graphics and some more polished mechanics.

[s0]

speaking of warren spector:

HOLY SHIT THEY FINALLY MANAGED TO GET SYSTEM SHOCK 1 ON GOG

i was told it was impossible for the game to ever get a legit rerelease due to some rights bullshit involving the dissolution of origin and looking glass. i was told it was stuck in legal limbo just like goldeneye. but apparently gog did find a way to release it, so hey what do i know?

[Schoq]

speaking of warren spector:

HOLY SHIT THEY FINALLY MANAGED TO GET SYSTEM SHOCK 1 ON GOG

i was told it was impossible for the game to ever get a legit rerelease due to some rights bullshit involving the dissolution of origin and looking glass. i was told it was stuck in legal limbo just like goldeneye. but apparently gog did find a way to release it, so hey what do i know?

o
shortly after warner loses copyrights to the phrase "happy birthday" too
what a time to be alive

[gimymblert]

okay now "no one live forever"

[saturdaymorning]

I've been giving Else Heartbreak a go. The developers have described it as a "place where bits have replaced atoms." Almost everything you can interact with can be hacked. I've broken a few of the in-game games, and I've turned every drink into an extremely powerful anti-sleep juice, but it all feels pretty limited in reach at the moment. My computer hacking skills are admittedly weak right now, so I may still be able to tear the city apart like in Corrypt.

The city functions and continues to move without you. I like that you can have complete conversations with characters and not even catch their name. Interacting with the other characters can also be irritating at times. Everyone is an upbeat hipster. As much as I like coffee and Twin Peaks, sometimes I don't wanna chillax with you, man. I'm liking the game a lot.

[s0]

im playing system shock 1 seriously for the first time and wow. i can't believe this came out less than a year after the original doom. it's even more ahead of its time than ultima underworld. it has a typical awkward fps control scheme from before mouselook was a thing (tho there is a mouselook mod). but aside from that, it basically plays like a modern game, including voiced audiologs you can listen to during gameplay and a fairly extensive ingame tutorial. now i understand why this thing is such a cult classic.

[gimymblert]

Well that's where the audiolog thingy come from, the shock's series.

[mks]

I don't like audiologs.
Well, I only encountered that concept in Bioshock so far, but I somehow doubt it's so much different in other games.
I just don't like listen to some story bits while simultaneously trying to play the game. Every time I found an audiolog I just stopped playing and started listen to it. I can only do one thing at a time, so I'm stupid.