Octopus Overlords

Really enjoyed and almost finished the first one (amazing, for me). Tried the second but wasn’t hooked like I was for first. Maybe put 30m into it.

That lack of enthusiasm about 2 could have been because I started it too soon after spending many many hours on the first, and being burned out.

Very easy to get burned out on that kind of grindy game IMO (but I weirdly still enjoy it)

FWIW, I posted a link to the Cold Waters video on the Cold Waters thread. And I have a couple more videos on Dakar if any one wants to watch that on my youtube channel, also linked on Steam.

JetFred wrote: ↑Mon Jul 31, 2017 11:20 pm Go play Maize if you like funny single player adventure games.

i just finished - i'd call this an 'enhanced walking simulator' where there are actually some adventure-type 'put this object there' puzzley things, but the game straight up tells you what to do with the things because you are SO STOOPID. IDIOT. i very nearly quit before i got out of the first part, but once you advance into the main story, the interior environments are very well rendered and full of detail - there were areas where i wished more games looked this good (kinda like that one cave in Dear Esther). humor is all over the place - it spans the whole spectrum from unfunny and over-explainy to truly hilarious with some good sight gags (one of which had me in tears). it was very heavily reliant on atmosphere and detail and was engaging in those aspects for most of the five-hour experience.

some technical issues - takes _forever_ to load and seems generally unoptimized, lighting is wonky in a few areas (doors and signs especially), some broken pathfinding and got stuck on one platform for a long time because the level geometry seemed wonky.

got 71/75 collectibles, no idea what those last four were.

It took me a while, but I finally won a solos Battle Royale in Call of Duty Warzone last night. Boy, was that last couple of minutes tense.

Paingod wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 11:58 am

Baroquen wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 11:41 amI wasn't super impressed.

I bought Torchlight and enjoyed it well enough, then got the second and just never got into it. I don't see myself bothering with the third installment.

Torchlight was basically Diablo without a soul. All of the right pieces were there - random maps, random loot, tech trees, unique monsters, lots of clicking - but the whole package was just so remarkably bland and generic.

I ended up playing through both 1 and 2, but mostly just because there weren't that many other ARPG hack-n-slash options. I remember having a general feeling of 'meh' through the entire thing, but it hit just enough of the same sweet spots as Diablo to keep slogging through it. I've tried going back to them a couple times since, and lost interest almost immediately. There were far better options available.

I haven't heard much good feedback about Torchlight 3. It'll likely be a deep discount Steam sale-r, if I ever bother with it.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 2:05 pmTorchlight was basically Diablo without a soul.

I think that's apt.

My go-to ARPG is Grim Dawn. Lovin' it for a long time now, and I fire it up from time to time.

I still fire up Grim Dawn and Diablo 3 here and there. I've been playing Grim Dawn again most recently. 2-handed lightning Shaman build is awesome!

Torchlight 1 was good. 2 seemed more generic to me and could never get into it.

Funny, but I felt like the first Torchlight was like an invigorated Diablo. I felt everything was better about it without Diablo's baggage.

I was excited for Torchlight III when they were hyping the broader MMO-lite aspects earlier in development. But like the others, all I've heard recently is that it still has the negative attributes of a F2P game even they converted back to a paid title, and I've seen a lot of comments that it feels like a mobile game. I'd love to discover that's not true.

I didn't get too far into the originals, but I always meant to try again. Honestly I've never found a successor to the Diablos that I liked. Grim Dawn came very close, and I plan to return to it someday. Path of Exile's upcoming redesign also looks great. But Diablo's combat has always felt super satisfying. I didn't get that from Torchlight. I sure appreciated having a pet that would take my loot back to town, though.

I didn't get too far into the originals, but I always meant to try again. Honestly I've never found a successor to the Diablos that I liked. Grim Dawn came very close, and I plan to return to it someday. Path of Exile's upcoming redesign also looks great. But Diablo's combat has always felt super satisfying. I didn't get that from Torchlight. I sure appreciated having a pet that would take my loot back to town, though.

All this.

Are there any modern or semi modern games like Populous or Power Monger out there? Not an RTS but more a game where you provide and they build and if you tell them to attack they will on their own and in their own way. I dont want to control the army just point. Miss those old style games but even though I own them the graphics and tiny view SUCKS now days.

Id really prefer a Power Monger type game. Played both on Sega Genesis in the day. I own PM on PC but like I said Ill pass.

So, just generic 'guidance'? Hmmm... I guess Majesty doesn't scratch that itch.

Crest?

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:16 pm I guess Majesty doesn't scratch that itch.

I loved Majesty so much. Would love to see it again.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 8:24 pm Are there any modern or semi modern games like Populous or Power Monger out there? Not an RTS but more a game where you provide and they build and if you tell them to attack they will on their own and in their own way. I dont want to control the army just point. Miss those old style games but even though I own them the graphics and tiny view SUCKS now days.

Id really prefer a Power Monger type game. Played both on Sega Genesis in the day. I own PM on PC but like I said Ill pass.

Finished the tutorial for Order of Battle, which has gone "free to play," which just means every campaign is now another $10-20 purchase. It finally dawns on me that I have Panzer Corps Gold sitting barely touched.

Sudy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:33 am Path of Exile's upcoming redesign also looks great.

someone keep me posted when this goes live and i'll check it out again

Smoove_B wrote:

Kasey Chang wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:16 pm I guess Majesty doesn't scratch that itch.

I loved Majesty so much. Would love to see it again.

Same. I played both of them for the first time maybe 6-7 years ago? Had a blast, even with the (relatively) crude graphics and interface. Held up surprisingly well.

Sudy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:33 amPath of Exile's upcoming redesign also looks great.

I very much wanted to love Path of Exile, but consistently bounce off the character skill designs and monstrosity behind creating a "good" build that remains effective later.

Paingod wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:00 am

Sudy wrote: ↑Sat Oct 03, 2020 10:33 amPath of Exile's upcoming redesign also looks great.

I very much wanted to love Path of Exile, but consistently bounce off the character skill designs and monstrosity behind creating a "good" build that remains effective later.

Same. I want to like it, but my brain simply shuts down when that skill tree pops up.

Well none of them are equal to PowerMonger but they seem interesting. So these are called kingdom sims huh?

RPS has a nice roundup of upcoming PC releases through the end of the year and beyond.

New PC games coming out in 2020

I actually didn't get too deep into Path of Exile either, but probably a good 20 hours... so "enough". I could tolerate the skill map, but I was put off by the lack of clear class/role identities, and the need to either follow a build, become an expert at the game, or completely &$*# up your character. (Which I guess may be the same as disliking the open-ended skill system.) I also didn't understand the game's itemization. I had no idea how to tell what good items were, beyond a point. But, I had also never played deeply into Diablo 2. Now I have, and I suspect PoE mike make a little more sense to me. But the currency and ability systems are unique to the point of being unintuitive. It's clear why the game's developed a hardcore following of those who've invested the time and effort to learn its systems. The developer's commitment seems amazing.


The reason I'm excited by the non-sequel update is that the combat just looks so damn satisfying:

My online buddy loves POE and has learned the great builds. Me I dont care for it. I share the exact reasons with you...huge unknown skills tree with unknown builds.. Blah. I love the Diablo series myself but he doesn't as they are simple.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:55 amlearned the great builds.

For some reason I have no problem following build advice when it's fairly linear between A and B, or maybe C and you're just working down the line.

Path of Exile rips open a giant pinata of skills to select from, but then you can't actually be creative and have fun with that or you hose yourself... so you're following someone else's build. I'm sure you can have fun with random builds, but you're likely never going to excel in the end-game.

For some reason, being given a massive paint set but discovering I could really only paint with Red, Blue, or Green just put me off.

Max Peck wrote: ↑Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:07 am RPS has a nice roundup of upcoming PC releases through the end of the year and beyond.

New PC games coming out in 2020

and no mention of Atomic Heart at all

I have a few of my games on Steam that I cannot play directly. I have to "Stream" them. I didn't have to stream the when I bought them.
It's bad enough putting up with third party DRMs without streaming them too.
Oh well, big business has the right to make a profit.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 07, 2020 10:19 pm I have a few of my games on Steam that I cannot play directly. I have to "Stream" them.

do you have Steam installed and running on more than one machine with the same account?

Yes I do. I'll check into that. Thanks!

So I'm playing Warhammer Total War and I'm wondering where did they find dwarves that spit acid and shot fireballs out their ass? Not only one guy but 240 of them? And then ten more units of them?
And how does the special building I built make three legged guys who throw flaming lemonade at people?
Did they start off with two regular people and cut the leg of one and sew it on another guy? And is their a ghetto of one legged guys who hate lemonade at the outskirts of the village?

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 8:27 am Yes I do. I'll check into that. Thanks!

if Steam detects another machine logged in with the same account with a game already installed, it'll default to 'streaming' for that game on the machine you're currently at. you can still install it locally, tho. logging out of the other machine(s) is the other way to do this.

Currently playing through XIII and having lots of fun despite it being clunky at times. Having it upscaled to modern resolutions with full antialising makes it look quite good! Kind of makes me think that it could make for a great looking VR title if it weren't so clunky.

Looks like they're doing a remake too, although I find the lower polygon models suits it quite well.

Rumpy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 7:58 pm Currently playing through XIII and having lots of fun despite it being clunky at times. Having it upscaled to modern resolutions with full antialising makes it look quite good! Kind of makes me think that it could make for a great looking VR title if it weren't so clunky.

Looks like they're doing a remake too, although I find the lower polygon models suits it quite well.

I remember really enjoying that one. I liked how they did sound. It was cool to be able to "watch" a patrol pass by on the other side of a wall by seeing the noise their feet made.

Did anyone enjoy Saboteur? I couldn't get into it but it got remarkable reviews.

TheMix wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:01 pm

Rumpy wrote: ↑Fri Oct 09, 2020 7:58 pm Currently playing through XIII and having lots of fun despite it being clunky at times. Having it upscaled to modern resolutions with full antialising makes it look quite good! Kind of makes me think that it could make for a great looking VR title if it weren't so clunky.

Looks like they're doing a remake too, although I find the lower polygon models suits it quite well.

I remember really enjoying that one. I liked how they did sound. It was cool to be able to "watch" a patrol pass by on the other side of a wall by seeing the noise their feet made.

Oh yep, "Tap Tap Tap Tap... " And despite the simplistic looking environments, it manages to have a lot of atmosphere. Another thing I really like about this game is the way the grappling hook works.

I found a trailer for the remake, but it looks to me like it might not have as much charm as the original. Something about the higher polygon count takes away from it.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:32 pm Did anyone enjoy Saboteur? I couldn't get into it but it got remarkable reviews.

Yes! It's an amazing game. I felt the WWII Gerrman Occupation of Paris made for a fascinating setting.

Daehawk wrote: ↑Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:32 pm Did anyone enjoy Saboteur? I couldn't get into it but it got remarkable reviews.

Loved it. I bounced off the early race a couple of times but once I got past that it was great.

Does anyone know whether Uplay+ includes the pre-order DLC for new games at launch?

Ubisoft has 3 titles releasing over the next 4 months or so that are no-brainer purchases for me, and I'm wondering if there is any downside to going with a Uplay+ subscription vs my usual habit of preordering the FOMO-edition of each game (other than the obvious fact that I'd lose access to the games if I cancel Uplay+).

I already looked at the information available on the Uplay storefront, but I couldn't see anything that refers to pre-order DLC. For the most part, it seems like you get the "Ultimate" edition DLC, minus any currency accelerators included in specific games like Ghost Recon Breakpoint or Watch Dogs Legion. I was hoping that someone with hands-on experience with Uplay+ and new releases would be able to provide some insight.

The pre-order bonus for Legion is just some skins, which I wouldn't miss, but for Valhalla it's an additional mission, which I'd rather like to have.

Skinypupy wrote: ↑Thu Oct 01, 2020 2:05 pm

Paingod wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 11:58 am

Baroquen wrote: ↑Tue Sep 29, 2020 11:41 amI wasn't super impressed.

I bought Torchlight and enjoyed it well enough, then got the second and just never got into it. I don't see myself bothering with the third installment.

Torchlight was basically Diablo without a soul. All of the right pieces were there - random maps, random loot, tech trees, unique monsters, lots of clicking - but the whole package was just so remarkably bland and generic.

Switch had Torchlight 2 on sale for $10. I decided to give it another look to see if a) it fared any better on console (hint: it doesn’t) and b) if it really was as uninspired as I remembered, or if I just wasn’t in the mood for it before (hint: it is).

I suppose there’s a bit of fun in a completely mindless sort of way if you’re entirely burned out on Diablo (which I am). It’s just all so...dull. Music is fantastic though.

It’s the gaming equivalent of my job. I do the same thing over and over while watching numbers very slowly tick upwards. Every once in a while everything goes to shit and I panic, then it’s back to the same old, same old.