Just thought I could get a discussion thread going. What is everyone playing lately?
I just finished playing Metal Gear Solid Delta, it was great! I decided to play through the series finally after years of watching video essays on the game, and I’m glad I did! I played Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Subsistence through emulation (4k HD for the win!) It was a great experience and I can see why the series is so highly venerated. It holds up remarkably well, and the long cut scenes were really enjoyable. I thought it would be annoying, but I actually found myself looking forward to them. Delta was like jumping forward in time 30 years, but still extremely fun. I’m glad they stayed so close to the source material so I could just play the new release instead of booting up Snake Eater through emulation.
Now if I could just play IV without a PS3, that would be awesome. I might have to try emulation on that, but from what I read, the experience isn’t great.
Regardless, now I’m replaying Max Payne 3. This game IS SO FREAKING GOOD. I had forgotten how good it is. The noir narration is just amazing. The gameplay is tight as a snare drum. The art style and visuals are still amazing even when compared to modern games. Rockstar really knocked this game out of the park. I still haven’t played Max Payne 1 or 2, and maybe I should. Also, I found out that one of the bands I’ve recently discovered and have been listening to like crazy, Health, did the score for Max Payne 3. The music is fantastic. If you haven’t played it, I highly recommend giving it a go.
Other than those games, I plan to play through The Last of Us 1 for the first time soon. Not sure how “retro” it is, but I think it is borderline given the original release date and hardware. Looking forward to trying it for the first time. I’ve never had Sony consoles, so I’ve missed out on a ton of first-party Sony games over the years. Trying to make up for that by playing modern PC releases and through emulation.
So yeah, what do ya’ll have going on right now? What do you recommend playing and why?
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Cyberpunk 2077. Felt like a good moment to buy it as its finished. It’s basically modernized skyrim and I love that.
Probably my favorite game and game world of all time. Though, to be honest, I’m having difficulty in relating it to Skyrim. Then again, I was never big into Skyrim. I always got bored half way through the game and never finished it. Probably just a setting thing. I really like sci-fi and less into fantasy.
Did you get Phantom Liberty? If not, I highly recommend it. It’s ridiculously good. I’m on my 5th or 6th playthrough and still finding new things and details I missed previously. The world is ridiculously dense.
I’m running Phantom liberty right now! I’m liking it quite a bit. I’m at the part where you gotta get into the big hotel.
Hey friend, cheers for the thread. I’m strangely happy and relieved to have found something chill enough to engage with in the midst of all the crazy political drama around the place.
I’m glad you’re enjoying Max Payne 3. I liked it too, though It had to grow on me, especially after having played MP1 and MP2. The first one especially blew me away even when I played it for the first time back in 2008 - its combination of beautiful, prosaic noir writing, the modern incorporation of Norse mythology, and innovative (for the time) gameplay, among other traits, continues to make it stand out amongst the rest.
- If you get to play it, I’d highly recommend checking out the PCGamingWiki page for the fixes to help it work better in general and on modern systems.
Currently, I’m playing RoboCop: Rogue City and Schedule I. Playing on both sides of the law by the looks of it, haha.
- Rogue City is a great experience as far as faithfully adapting the dystopian, mega-corporatised, hyper-violent world of RoboCop to the gaming screen;
- Schedule I has you build a drug empire through a surprisingly addictive (heh) gameplay loop of producing and distributing different types of drugs (I found myself staying up til 4AM while crafting all-new marijuana strains with kickass names like the Ninja Witch).
I’ve also been revisiting old PS2 games on PCSX2 emulator. Currently replaying:
- WWE games - Here Comes the Pain, and SvR’06/07 (peak of the franchise, imo)
- Dog’s Life - the adorable yet disturbing, fantastically scored, janky GTA-flavoured canine adventure still entertains.
Glad to have you here to chat with us! I tried to play RoboCop twice now, but couldn’t get into it the way I had hoped. It seemed like a really well-made game, but I think that either I wasn’t in the right headspace for it at the time or maybe it’s just not quite what I’m looking for. It’s one of those games I feel like I should like, but just don’t yet.
I’m getting so many recommendations to go back and play Max Payne 1 & 2 that I’m going to prioritize them in my next round of games.
As for wrestling games, the two I owned were WCW-NWO Revenge (N64) and WWF Warzone. Both were interesting and I still go back and play them every once in a while through emulation. I really like the mechanics for WCW-NWO Revenge. It’s the best implementation of grapple controls I’ve played in a wrestling game. The rest is a bit rough around the edges, though.
Thanks! Yeah, totally understandable about RoboCop RC - it isn’t without its flaws and is certainly rough around the edges, one would have to be a big fan of the franchise to forgive all the bugs. Thanks to the mods that bring back the original movie SFX, the game feels much more immersive. A major hook to play it for me is Peter Weller returning to voice Robo, if anything I’ll try to finish it for that reason alone.
I hope to try out that WCW-nWo Revenge game, sounds interesting. My other one I’d like to try would be WWF No Mercy, it’s still touted as the crème de la crème of wrestling games and there’s a loyal and active modding community for it to this day, amazingly.
I’ll have to look into the mods, I bought RoboCop RC on deep sale this summer but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Despite being a somewhat janky AA game it looked cool and seem to have gotten quite good reviews so I’m looking forward to it.
It is quite decent indeed, what I love is the solid, passionate attempt at faithfully adhering to the source material, paired with the courage to expand it authentically.
Where Rogue City needed more immersion is the sound effects. The sound carries the first film as almost its own character, and it’s no wonder it won the Special Achievement Oscar. Most of the mods I have installed for the SFX are from Nexus, and replace the sounds of Robo’s steps, Auto-9 gun, HUD, targeting, punching, breaching, etc., with their original movie versions. There are other mods out there for RC, but imo those classic sounds are absolutely essential for the RoboCop experience.
Wow, I didn’t know about all that for RoboCop. If I’m honest, I’ve never actually watched the movies. I know… I know. I should have by now. Especially considering I’m a big fan of dystopian cyberpunk type stuff. Maybe after I give it a watch I’ll be more interested in the game.
I’ve heard about No Mercy being the king of the hill, but I haven’t tried it either. Warzone was… not great. lol. I much preferred WCW-NWO Revenge of the two. Those are the only two I owned back in the day, so I mainly boot them up for nostalgia purposes.
When you say No Mercy has a modding community, are you talking about a PC release of some sort or romhacks?
(better late than never 😁)
I’m not sure on the details (am yet to delve into it proper), but from what I can spot it is 64-based so looks like it’s through an emulator and with asset/texture packs. Likely similar to PCSX2’s texture mods
Very cool. I’ll check that out when I have time. Thanks!
- A Plague’s Tale: Innocence
- Blade Runner
- Freedom Fighters and trying hard to make Dominatrix work to play SiN Gold again.
Mount and Blade Warband with conversion mods. All the different settings are interesting and each mod has its own specialty that makes it stand out.
Dude! I was so fucking surprised at how well Max Payne 3 still holds up. Better than most shooters nowadays.
It’s unreal. Just the feel of the game is amazing. Modern gaming is great and all, but something about that 6th/7th generation just hits. It was like the perfect mix of player-focused design and modern tech. There’s a lot of games with amazing potential nowadays, but they are ruined by silly design choices like always-online implementation or micro-transactions. The games from the 6th and 7th generations are just so feature-rich and laden with game modes and statistics tracking that it’s disheartening to see how far we’ve regressed in those areas in modern games, seemingly all in pursuit of making the walls have 5% more fidelity than before.
Started playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 again after being disappointed by the “remaster” which was just a THPS 3 and 4 map-pack without all the maps and a premium price tag…
Kinda did it backwards since I actually replayed THPS4 again after they announced the original single player mode wouldn’t be in 3+4 >.>
I had some fun messing around with that remake they recently did. I unlocked all the levels in three and got most of the challenges done. I’m more of a Skate guy to be honest. Skate 2 and Skate 3 are all-time greats for me. The new skate game that is free to play is the biggest piece of shit I’ve ever played. It makes me so mad every time I think about it. Been waiting on that game for like a decade and they absolutely shit all over it and us. They absolutely ruined it.
No I’m not upset at all about it I always have steam coming out of my ears.
3 was great on it’s own merits as a game, but the noir elements were ratched way down compared to the first and second.
Max Payne 2 was… I dunno… damn well perfect for what it was supposed to be in the era it was developed with the technology of the time.
Really? I thought 3 was heavy on noir, but then again, I don’t have much experience with that genre. I really should play 1 and 2 when I can.
I probably played Max Payne 2 from start to finish three or four times. It’s superb.
I’m pretty sure if you played mp2 in an empty sealed room for 14 hours straight you’d somehow come out reeking of whisky and cigarettes.
🤣
I’m playing Chrono Trigger on my Miyoo Mini and I’m planning to finish it and play Mother 3 (since I finished Earthbound some time ago and really loved it). Also honorable mention when I need a quick time kill: Catrap (GB) and Apotris
I absolutely do recommend playing Earthbound if you still haven’t because this really is a story with a soul and I’m astonished that I haven’t heard about it before. Also btw this game has an S-tier manual, google it.
Heck yeah I’ll check it out!
I keep thinking about picking up one of those small emulation devices but I keep coming back to the same thing… My phone is probably just as powerful and I already own it. It’s a little annoying to have to have a controller to play, though.
I have all my emulators up to ps2 on my phone and they run great in high resolution. I’m struggling to find a need for one of those aside from “I want it.” Lol
Yeah, I also had my phone emulation phase but it kinda sucked having to lug around a controller, searching for it in my bag, turning on, connecting via BT - that took a lot of time and eventually I got kinda lazy and stopped doing it. Plus the distractions of my phone (nothing sucks more than getting a message from boss in the middle of the game) and fast draining of charge.
But you do you man, I’m happy that it’s working for you! Kinda even jealous for ps2, my miyoo can only emulate anything up to ps1. And shooters are not great on it. Tried Quake 2, playable but not super comfy.
By the way, reason like “I want it” is valid too, miyoos are really cheap, I remember thinking to myself “worth a shot, as long as I won’t fall into a rabbit hole of modding it or collecting dozens of other emulators” - and I didn’t. Thx for answering btw, it’s great seeing folks with different experience. What are your favorite games apart from Max Payne?
You’re right. “I want it” is completely valid. If I had a bit more disposable income to play with I think I’d probably go ahead and bite the bullet.
I wouldn’t call Max Payne one of my “favorite” games, more that its a really good game that I’m currently discovering just how good it is. My favorite games are Cyberpunk 2077… Probably have like 500 hours in that. Had it since launch. By far my favorite “world” I’ve ever been immersed in. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been living rent-free in my head for months. That was a masterpiece. I spend 75% of my gaming time playing race sims, though. I’ve been going hard on Le Mans Ultimate lately. It’s so good! I want a race sim rig so bad. It’s the one thing I’ve wanted for years that I haven’t been able to get a chance to get. Hard to drop 2g’s on a peripheral.
Beyond that, more retro… Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing, The Typing of the Dead (God I love this one. So glad RetroArch exists otherwise I would have never got to experience it)
Thx for recommendations! I’m also a biiiig fan of Expedition 33 btw, it’s so good!
The Amiga version of Alien Breed 2. Bitch is hard as nails in a coffin. In comparison the Alien Breed trilogy on PC on hardest difficulty is a walk in the park.
I finally started Roboquest last week. After getting my ass handed to me nonstop on standard difficulty and realizing grinding like that would take forever, I went with Discovery (super easy) to unlock stuff faster. It’s a pretty fun game, though not retro by any measure (EA started back in 2020)
I might also bite the bullet and try to finish Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Sorcerer. I managed to successfully finish the two previous Silver Box DnD games (they really fucking suck), but this 3rd game throws so much shit to fuck your progress that ragequitting seems like the only correct option. As to why bother, it makes for a good conversation topic with RPG players and aspiring game devs
I haven’t played anything this year.
Well aside from like the sort of mobile games that ads sometimes have before you can close them.
I’m not sure if it’s depression or a lack of a good GPU. Still running my 1060.
Max Payne 1&2 still hold up I think. The upshot of using comic book style slideshow sequences instead of cutscenes is that it’s aged really well. Story, mood and atmosphere is great in both and I think the gameplay is still pretty decent. Keep in mind 1&2 were Remedy games while 3 was Rockstar, so they will feel noticeably different for better or worse. Most Max Payne fans will say it like: Max Payne 3 is a great game, it’s just not a great Max Payne game. It doesn’t have that Remedy touch, it isn’t good at the things that made the first two so special. Amazing 3rd person gunplay though.
Speaking of, there is a Remedy-themed Humble Bundle online right now with their whole catalogue minus Firebreak for like 30 bucks. Not a bad way to get your hands on MP 1&2. Pretty remarkable value, although with the two caveats that Alan Wake 2 is (1) only playable through Epic and (2) coming to PS+ next month if you have that platform and service.
Good to know! Thanks, homie.
I’m definitely going to play 1 & 2. The love for them is overwhelming. I wonder if I’ll feel differently than others due to playing 3 first. That’ll be interesting to find out.
Balatro till I’ve beat it
I’ve been on a Balatro kick lately too! My nightly routine is to play Mad Skills MX 2 and do all my versus races against my friends, and then boot up Balatro till I fall asleep. Good stuff. I’m working through doing all the red stakes challenges right now. I’m on the Telescope? deck. I think that’s the name of it.
🙌
I’ve beaten all decks on red stake and all challenges. Now I’m working through them to get them all to gold stake. I’m shooting for completionist++, but I have a feeling I’ll get through all the decks and just not want to get gold stake on all jokers. That part sounds brutal.
Yeah you’re light years ahead of me. I’m still figuring out new strategies and stuff. Like, there are certain hands I pretty much never play because it never seems to line up for me. Straight flushes, four of a kind, and trips are the hands I play the least. But I’m finding new ways to increase my score all the time through combinations and different ordering of jokers. It’s been really fun to discover.
Straight flushes, four of a kind, and trips are the hands I play the least.
Yeah those hands are in a kind of middle ground where they are difficult to compose, but don’t scale well enough to necessarily be able to build around.
Like, its way easier to build around flush or straight; you can guarantee yourself the ability to get those in a given blind. And so for those hands, you can augment with jokers/ scaling mult to win.
And hands like five of a kind, flush house, five of a kind flush, the value of these hands is so much higher, you can make a run at ante 8 just through scaling those hands (not even worrying about jokers, just through deck management). I mean this is basically what you have to do to win Jokerless.
So those hands sit in a middle zone where you’ll have to throw economy at them (costing you the ability to build/ manage your deck, or to buy jokers/ rerolls), but alone, they don’t scale well enough to get to a victory.
The challenges are really good for learning because they force you to play in manners you wouldnt’ normally.
balaro, hunnie pop, breath of the wild, mario kart.
trying to get everything off my computer so I can install linux. Suggestions for Debian based , easy install, rock solid distros are welcome here :
I’m playing through hollow Knight for the first time! I have always enjoyed Metroid and most of Castlevania, and with the silk song hype I felt it was time. I have no idea how far along I am, I don’t suspect very far based on how full my inventory screen is. And I’m using the strategy of “re explore old areas once you learn a new move”, which is working okay, but I’m getting a little annoyed by how much back tracking I’m doing. I want to find the map for the jellyfish area, but I can’t get past this black barrier.
There are fun optional platforming areas that remind me of Celeste. Now if I only I had unlimited tries like she did. And the boss battles are challenging and punishing in a way that reminds me of elden ring - everyone has a pattern, and they will hurt you if you are too greedy with your attacks.
Overall I recommend it if you enjoy Metroidvanias
Very nice! I tried to play Hollow Knight a while back while I was exploring 2D games. I think it was right after I finished Elden Ring, now that you mention it. The mechanics and platforming felt amazing, but the setting just didn’t speak to me. These aren’t really the kind of games I have been drawn to in my life, so it was definitely out of my wheelhouse, but it was getting such acclaim I figured I owed it to myself to at least try it.
Maybe I’ll go back to it one day and give it another shot.
