What is Icrontic playing? Beginning of 2019 edition
primesuspect
Beepin n' BoopinDetroit, MI Icrontian
Everybody knows what I'm playing, but the new expansion of World of Warcraft, Battle for Azeroth, has kind of sapped a lot of energy out of the game for a lot of people. It doesn't seem to be a very popular expansion, and many people I talk to have been playing a lot less as it has failed to grab people. Our raiding guild is kind of falling apart and we aren't really able to scrape enough people together to raid anymore so enthusiasm has been low.
But, on the bright side: that has given me more time for some other games. I bought and played through the goofy Donut County recently, it only took me about 2 hours to play through it but it's a very compelling type of game: sort of like an inverse Katamari: You're a hole. You move a hole around on the ground and drop objects in, and the more you consume, the larger you get. There are some very elementary physics puzzles but for the most part it's a no-brain, colorful, fun game with a satisfying mechanic and a cute, kind of lulz backstory about trash pandas (raccoons) ruining everything.
Another game I've started playing is Sundered. In general I am turned off by hand-drawn games as they tend to feel just a bit "too" Indie for my tastes, but this game blows that preconception out of the water. The artwork is beautiful but not in a distracting sense; the art direction is good enough that the classic discipline of sprite differentiation from the backgrounds is skillfully executed here: You have no trouble telling what's you, what's an enemy, and what's a background object... and that's a great thing because this game gets hectic, with frenzied bursts of enemy activity, surprise waves of attacks, room dangers, and lots of little spammy things thrown at you.
It's okay though: you are powerful. The sense of impact, fluid movement, and graceful attacks is what vaults Sundered from merely good to truly excellent. The massive skill tree keeps you engaged, and every small upgrade makes you feel more and more powerful. That is to say, the scaling feels very well designed. In classic Metroidvania style, the sense of accomplishment as you return to a previously-inaccessible area only to vault into new zones with ease is truly satisfying.
This is a fantastic game, with gorgeous artwork, fluid controls, solid and impactful fighting, and a well-thought-out difficulty curve. The cherry on top is the excellently crafted fantasy language that the narrator uses. It sounds exactly like what you would expect an eldritch, ancient language to sound like.
Sundered is good stuff.
What are you playing?
Comments
Valkyria Chronicles 4 is my main game right now.
...the other is Kickstart/MDT All The Things In The House
AC: Odyssey.
I wanted to take a break from AC after finishing Origins (in about 130 hours), but I found myself rushing through the 'break' games I was trying to play because I wanted to get to Odyssey, so I gave in. It's outstanding.
I'm slightly miffed that they changed the formula of one of my my favorite game franchise so much in the past two games, but they changed it to something I ALSO really like, so I'm not too salty.
I spent the end of the year/start of this one playing some VR games. I got the itch to set up my VIVE again properly, re-positioned the lighthouses better to capture the play area.
Bought/playing/played and beat in VR since Xmas:
1. Accounting (again)
2. Accounting+ (got most of the way through, found their trap to make people pay for it, don't mind, still fun)
3. I Expect You To Die --- this was a good one, very James Bond/Archer-esque spy stuff, good humor and fun puzzles, quick to beat, but worth a replay
4. Budget Cuts --- bought this cause it was on sale and supposedly really fun, haven't tried it yet
5. Pavlov VR --- played a few minutes, the locomotion sorta messes with my head, other than that it's fun VR Counter Strike, there's videos online showing the nonsense that can happen in the game
6. Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality --- short fun Rick and Morty game, was on sale during the holiday sale, beat it, there's some replayability but not much
Not VR:
I'm still trying to beat Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4, I'm on the last chapter before the 2 epilogues, it's a great game, and honestly if it never comes out on PC, get a PS4 or an Xbox One just to play it, totally worth it, I've spent so much time in this game roaming around.
Still gotta finish Beyond Good and Evil! Then I might finally do Bioshock 2...
If this had been released in 1994 it would be remembered as fondly as Chrono Trigger, FF6, and Secret of Mana. It's a shame it doesn't seem more well known having just been released in September.
Coming up, Hollow Night, Into the Breach, and on the very second Steam will finally let me RESIDENT EVIL 2.
I need a computer or iPad friendly time waster type game. I'm still playing a lot of Hearthstone but it's getting old, there's an example of something I like. Turn based strategy (I still play Civ5, hated 6). No shooters, nothing with too deep thinking (lol) just something I can have up in the background and take my time with or play in relatively short bursts. I'm on call, so the phone might ring at any time and require my entire focus, so you can see why I need to be able to look away with no risk to losing progress.
Also, I hate games where my character dies a lot. I'm casual as can be, and won't put up with it.
I tried the MTG Arena (I think that's it), not really for me or at least I wasn't willing to put the effort in beyond the demo.
Also, I've been playing the FUCK out of Microsoft Solitaire Collection. I'm 80
Pokemon Go still...
I got a Switch a few months ago and hopped on Breath of the Wild; playing the shit out of that now.
Overcooked on the Switch, also picked up that Art of Balance game for chill times.
Fired up the Sims 4 for some reason and sunk a bunch of time into that this weekend.
Minecraft.
Still Overwatch sometimes.
Paladins (aka free Overwatch).
I really want to play Red Dead 2 but I don't own either of the consoles it's out on :-(
We all have been.
I've been playing Lego The Hobbit. And lately I've been going through my MAME collection playing games that are older than half of Icrontic's members. Maybe even 75% of them.
Still playing Fallout 76 (PS4).
Love all the Fallout Games, with FO4 being my least favorite.
I started playing Elite: Dangerous and I'm probably stuck for the rest of my life.
I like that I can just make cargo runs and use it to zen out like I used to with Minecraft.
It's REALLY pretty at 4k, too.
I was a big fan of the smuggling missions in ED. Outfitted a Cobra as light and quick as possible, fly straight out from a station I need to enter, request docking, full throttle with a boost and then shut off the entire ship. At the speeds fast enough to avoid a scan if you hit the sides of the mailslot you'd lose your ship.
Bloons. Cookie Clicker.
I started relearning Smash Bros. since the Switch version came out. Most of my gaming is on the Switch, now. Mario Kart, Mario Odyssey, and Mario Party probably constituted the majority of my video gaming in 2018.
I finally started in on Obduction, a Myst-style game I helped Kickstart a few years back. I've been enjoying that but haven't been back to it yet this year.
My tabletop Magic playing has been a lot higher since @cola returned. We play as many days as not. That's basically taken up my wee bit of video game time, and I'm good with that.
Aaron is playing the hell out of Mini Metro (free version). I was playing it for a bit but found the lack of tutorial a bit frustrating. I don't feel like I was getting better after a certain point and it wasn't clear in the game how I was supposed to figure that out. Basically it was stressing me out more than the satisfaction was worth.
Aaron's also been spinning up the Nintendo Classic he won at Expo 2018 to play Mario 3 quite a bit. I am not allowed to make comments. On anything.
Discovered Aaron enjoys the boardgame Castles (of Mad King Ludwig) and @cola does too so it's on like Donkey Kong.
It does a real good job of scratching that Myst itch. (It's pretty cool in VR too)
Ooooh ooh I can say whatever I want:
IT IS SO GODDAMNED FUNNY HEARING HIM SWEAR AND STRUGGLE AND CURSE AND SCREAM AT BASIC LEVELS
I'm a scrub who buys the docking computer as the first add-on whenever I pick up a new ship. I'm learning about mining this week.
I have been on a major retro kick lately. Also a good bit of virtual pinball. I'm moving this year, probably in six months or so and the new place will have a game room. I'm 99% sure it will have a Pac Man Pixel Bash chill machine, it has a little mini fridge in it, but I'm not 100% sure what else will be in there, maybe an air hockey, and I'd like to do a virtual pinball of some kind, not sure if I'll buy a kit and build my own or get something pre loaded.
Just something satisfying about simply playing to beat your high score.
Got back into Titanfall 2 with my Tdot buddies, a lot of them bought it because it was like $6. Battlefield 5 as well because at half off it felt like a steal, gameplay has improved a lot since the beta and I enjoy using a Bren gun.
Recently beat Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden, fun XCom like game with a focus on characters and dark humour. Can't wait for the second installment and it was a fun enough setting that I got my hands on a copy of the Pen and Paper RPG its based on.
Smash Bros and Mario Kart with my buddies/brother, considering picking up Breath of the Wild again.
Switch: Stardew Valley, Mario Kart, and Mario Party
PC: Stellaris (not recently, but hoping to get back in), picked up a few games recently like Opus Magnum off recs
PS4: Red Dead Redemption 2
I got a Switch recently so I've been chipping away at Mario, also picked up Diablo 3 for it which is a great toilet game.
Lucky enough to be able to build a new PC the end of 2018 so I've been enjoying PubG, Killing Floor, and starting through some old franchises I never touched like BioShock.
I also played about 15 hours straight of Kingdoms and Castles, a simple-looking but deceptively deep kingdom-builder. I got so wrapped up in it I played it until almost 6am last night before I realized how many hours had passed. You go from building a little hovel and keeping your peasants alive through a harsh winter to a thriving kingdom with industry, enemies, and dragon attacks. It's a blast and really, really easy to get into.
The Android game?
Sorry should have specified. PC: https://store.steampowered.com/app/569480/Kingdoms_and_Castles/
I've been playing a shit ton of the new smash, with a sprinkling of the new path of exile league and some new monster hunter world content. A lot of smash though.
Also, @Linc, we need to like get together and play mario 3 as a drinking game I think. Maybe take a drink every time we die? I bet we could still beat it without warp whistles.
I haven't had much time to play so far this year, so this list is mostly picking up where I left off before Christmas.
Switch: Let's Go Evee, Dragon Quest Builders
PC: Graveyard Keeper, WoW (played for the first time in months lastnight)
Phone: Pokemon GO (almost daily), Homescapes, Emoji Blitz
I also ordered parts for a RetroPi.
I just bought Donut Country fort my iPad based on Brian's glowing review. I was planning to keep my iPad just for illustration work and Netflix during travel... Woops
primesuspect#1722
YYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAGHGHG!
I got MEGA-HOOKED on Train Valley. It's deceptively simple: you build tracks to connect stations, you dispatch trains to their destinations, and you flip switches to avoid collisions. Easy, right?
FUCK THIS GAME. It gets crazy complex in the later levels and I can't stop playing it. Aggghhhhh