What video game(s) are you playing at the moment?

[Nessy]

Taking a small break from Lemmings and I'm finally catching up on my video game backlog:

After owning it for a few months now I finally got around to playing Deltarune for the first time and managing to complete it including being able to beat that "secret boss" on my second attempt which was apparently a decent accomplishment, and if you have played the game you know what I'm talking about

I also picked up a copy of VVVVVV after it went on sale on Steam. I absolutely love this game so far Very simple in concept and yet highly addictive. It's also quite challenging but a good type of challenging... a type of challenge where you want to keep on trying and trying without ever getting frustrated.

I'm also returning to Ultimate Custom Night every once in a while to beat my high score (2000 at the time of this post). It's a shame a Halloween-themed stream revolving around this game never got off the ground, although I don't think this game would appeal to a lot of people on here.

[namida]

As I was pretty impressed with Grandia, I decided to give the sequel a go.

I'm undecided about the story so far. It's a very different tone / feel from the first one, and also ramps up much more quickly. However, gameplay wise, I'm completely impressed. They've kept it pretty similar to the first one, but with some minor quality-of-life achievements (eg. the first game has a "each character has their own, very-limited, inventory" system; the second reverts to a typical RPG style inventory).

Interestingly, the first game averted the usual "use big numbers because they look cool" trope; you'd have around 30 to 40 HP and be dealing single-digit damage at the start of the game; by the end of the game you'd be averaging a few hundred damage and maybe have 200 to 300 HP. The most damage I ever managed in a single attack to a single target was about 1000, and that was by exploiting an elemental weakness and a "counter" hit (both games have a system where if you hit an enemy in the middle of their attack, it does more damage) with a spell that was ridiculously overpowered and expensive to cast. In this one, I can't say what it's like at the end as I'm still pretty far from that (I'd hope, anyway), but you'd need to add an extra digit (not necesserially a zero) on the end of the starting figures, and I've got several attacks that manage 1000 damage at times without any elemental factor. I don't see this as a particularly huge matter either way, but I do find it strange that they averted it for one game but then jumped straight into it for the next - the two games have only minimal story connection (so far, at least) and no returning characters, so this isn't just a creative way to avert the "characters lose their power suddenly when you begin the sequel" situation.

There are a couple of things where I feel the first game did it better. Firstly, the controls - the first game's controls felt completely logical. The second's are a bit awkward, especially being forced to use L1 / R1 to rotate the camera (in the first, you could use these, but you could also use the right analog stick). Secondly, in a lot of places it feels like the game isn't being aggressive enough with not rendering certain walls / ceilings from certain angles - the first game did this almost flawlessly, you'd rarely if ever be unable to see your character no matter where you stand or what angle you look from (because it would cull rendering of walls that would block it); the 2nd game doesn't make much effort in this regard though, which feels a bit awkward - as a reminder, these games don't allow full freedom of camera control; you can rotate the camera but not move it up / down, it always focuses on your character from a fixed overhead angle. These are relatively minor concerns, and I'd still (so far) recommend this game.

[WillLem]

My go-to games are these, in no particular order:

Lemmings
Tetris
Basically any Mario game, but my faves are NSMB Wii, NSMB 2, Mariokart 8, Galaxy and Odyssey
The Tomb Raider series
The SSX series, particularly Tricky and 3
Yoshi's Woolly World
2D Sonic games
FIFA 10 on Wii (it's awesome! I don't think the series gets any better than shake to shoot. I know literally everyone disagrees...)
The Simpsons Road Rage, H&R & Skateboarding

[namida]

The Simpsons Road Rage, H&R & Skateboarding

Oh wow, The Simpsons Skateboarding is usually a game that opinions of are very negative. Personally, I quite liked it too - I haven't played it to anywhere near completion, but I remember when I was younger just playing around on it for hours; I don't think I ever made it beyond the 2nd area at the time, despite playing it heaps - I just enjoyed messing around in general with no real aim.

[combatmatrix088]

Playing Titanfall 2 as I wait for Halo MMC release on PC.

[WillLem]

The Simpsons Road Rage, H&R & Skateboarding

Oh wow, The Simpsons Skateboarding is usually a game that opinions of are very negative. Personally, I quite liked it too - I haven't played it to anywhere near completion, but I remember when I was younger just playing around on it for hours; I don't think I ever made it beyond the 2nd area at the time, despite playing it heaps - I just enjoyed messing around in general with no real aim.

I think it's a hidden gem tbh. Sure, the graphics are sub-par even for its time and a lot of the challenges are prohibitively difficult (the one where you have to grind along a massive section of monorail springs to mind), but it's The Simpsons. On skateboards. What's not to like?

[namida]

The Simpsons Road Rage, H&R & Skateboarding

Oh wow, The Simpsons Skateboarding is usually a game that opinions of are very negative. Personally, I quite liked it too - I haven't played it to anywhere near completion, but I remember when I was younger just playing around on it for hours; I don't think I ever made it beyond the 2nd area at the time, despite playing it heaps - I just enjoyed messing around in general with no real aim.

I think it's a hidden gem tbh. Sure, the graphics are sub-par even for its time and a lot of the challenges are prohibitively difficult (the one where you have to grind along a massive section of monorail springs to mind), but it's The Simpsons. On skateboards. What's not to like?

I've been playing it at two times - one was a few years back, the other was back during the PS2 era (I had the game as a rental, and it was weekly pricing, so I figure the game had been around for a little while at this point - but it was well before the PS3 was announced). On neither occasion did I feel that, for the era, there was anything too off about the graphics - though it might be that I wasn't really aware of what exactly to expect graphic-wise.

While playing Grandia 2 lately, I've definitely felt that the graphics don't feel up to PS2 standards. Except for the models being a bit more detailed, the graphics look more PS1 than PS2 era to me. Not a huge deal though - graphics is a pretty low priority to me, unless they're so bad that it's hard to tell what's going on; gameplay is most important, and probably music after that. Still loving the game regardless - although I do have to say that so far, I liked the original more.

[namida]

Finished Grandia 2 now, and I can definitely say I recommend it. It is a bit shorter than the first one, although I don't think I would have noticed this were it not for the "time played" clock - it didn't feel shorter. The story gets interesting much more quickly, and stays that way - though it's definitely a fair bit darker than the first game too.

Gameplay-wise, I stand by what I said before - this really takes the first game's gameplay, keeps the stuff that worked well, and chucks out the stuff that didn't.

I do feel this one was a bit easier than the first. Only two game overs here,

Spoiler

One against the Tio Clone, and one against the rematch vs Eye of Valmar (leading up to the final boss).

I've obtained Grandia III now, and will likely try it out in the near future - although I hear Grandia Xtreme is meant to come between II and III, so maybe I'll play that first. Definitely going to continue with the series either way.

[607]

My go-to games are these, in no particular order:

[...]
Yoshi's Woolly World
[...]

That's my favourite game!

[Nessy]

After owning it for about 8 months I finally starting playing New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe co-op with my brother (it's basically a Switch port of New Super Mario Bros. U). I did attempt to play it on my own but being able to play it with someone else is way more fun and entertaining!

[607]

New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe

Seeing that name makes me sad, because despite the obvious similarity in name, none of the functionality of Super Mario Bros. Deluxe was included, as far as I know.
Edit: That's assuming you meant New Super Mario Bros. U deluxe, because as far as I know New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe doesn't exist (or at least, not officially).

[Nessy]

That's assuming you meant New Super Mario Bros. U deluxe, because as far as I know New Super Mario Bros. Deluxe doesn't exist (or at least, not officially).

Yes I meant New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe

[combatmatrix088]

I've been playing Halo: Reach ever since it came out on Steam on December 3rd. Playing through the campaign the 2nd time, this time on Legendary difficulty. Also enjoying the multiplayer with all the armor parts you can unlock.

Aside from that, I tried out Resident Evil 2 Remake demo on Steam, and I intend to try out more Steam demos like Code Vein, Doom (2016) and others like Sniper Elite V2 

[namida]

I started with Grandia Xtreme a while back, and I'm quite enjoying it - probably more than the two main-series titles so far. It very much shifts the focus away from story (though not none at all) and towards gameplay, which is certianly fine by me. I've clocked up about 35 hours so far and haven't completed it yet, though I've been revisiting old dungeons a lot (the dungeon doesn't change except for item pickups, but the enemies and bosses are higher level and this often actually is more of a difference than just "higher stats" - and it gives new rewards too).

I definitely recommend this one too.

EDIT: I've completed it (apart from the postgame dungeon) now. I'd go as far as to say this was my favorite entry in the series so far. If you aren't too worried about story, I'd say Grandia Xtreme is the one to play so far. (If you do want story too, Grandia II's the one to go for. Though let me be clear - all three are great games.)

I'm probably going to start on Grandia III soon, I might consider LP'ing this one if I can find suitable time to do so.

[Proxima]

Just finished Oracle of Ages, my second completed Zelda game after A Link to the Past (I had also got about halfway through Link's Awakening before my hard drive failure; I will go back to that one at some point). It was awesome and in fact I think I might like it even better than LttP! The puzzles and dungeon layouts, especially towards the end, were really interesting, whereas in LttP I certainly enjoyed the dungeons but I also felt they didn't fully realise their potential.

Definitely looking forward to trying out more Zelda titles