What games are you playing atm? V2

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iwansquall
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Usually I wait until i finished whole game but this time I just want to make quick review for Shadow of War, which a game in Middle Earth universe (The Lord of the Rings).

I have played all 3 parts of the original Shadow of Mordor and its 2 big world DLC that Im quite impressed with the game experience especially the nemesis system. The DLC expand with several new skill set that both are fun and felt slightly different than the main games. Im gonna say that Im kinda put high expectation for Shadow of War, because I believe there are so much more interesting stuffs can be added to the games. My current progression is around 80% for main story campaign in 22 hours and I still have endless grind for act 4 (the infamous money grabber) and 2 short DLC (5 hours estimated)

Turned out... Im kinda a bit disappointed. The main reason is probably the feeling of dull & repetitiveness of most of the gameplay and missions in the game. I dont remember much in the first game, but I dont think that story was that barebones especially on narrative part. The story are broken down into several quest lines that if you dont do the mission continuously, you cant feel flow of the story. So pretty it break down this : Act 1 is straightly forward narrative, which open to act 2..... this one big pandora box where you spent most of my time since I need to capture 4 different maps and implant my own overlord / warchiefs.

On nemesis system, they added tons of new orc type and most of them are feel like.... clowns. I wish I could turn off their intro. I feel like hours I spent in this game are watching countless orc introduce themselves and mocking you. Once you have ability to dominate enemy orc (brand in 1st game) to become your follower, you can use money to improve and upgrade your follower so have higher chance of succeed with specific task like ambushing other orc captain, taking warchief position or becoming your bodyguard.

As for the gameplay aspect, the game have system where you pretty much can unlock all basic skill around level 20 and then you spend 1 skill points to customize each skill with additional benefit. My problem with system though, once you get 1 customization, usually you dont need the other 2 since you can only choose 1 upgrade per skill. Effectively making the game's skill reaching ceiling way earlier. Now I felt nothing to gain for aside from doing quests and grind some gear / orc. Additionally, they also changed the system abit instead of getting legendary runes, now you need to find legendary gear instead. Runes are simplified to just gems system with 3 types. I would say that this part is the one im really disappointed with, because I dont have anything to aim for.

Game do expand on several thing though. You can conquer a castle and upgrade your orc, which is kinda like play clash of clan online. You can assault other player's stronghold and get some loots, although you have to be very careful because your orc still can die permanently. Thankfully your orc dont die when they are on defense. I havent play this part so I cant review it yet. And similar to Assassin Creed Origins, it seem like I can do a Vendetta mission where you join other people's "world" and try to kill specific orc for revenge.


Verdict :
Personally, cost & time wise, I think first game is better. But if you like nemesis system and killing tons of orc, then this game is much better. Again, the game it is not bad but because I seen + play so much from 1st game, I didnt see much improvement from the first. Game reached the peak way too early for me and doing all other stuffs felt like chores.

Now im off to finish the main story campaign and see Act4 grind myself. If it too boring, then I will switch to both DLC and be done with the game. I doubt I will spend 20 more hours just to do all achievement though.

EDITED
What a coincidence, Shadow of War is on sale at steam for 60% off. Although it didnt have regional discount for me, thus i got it at GMG which also gave me bunch of free games as well.
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Prime_Evil
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Playing Control.

Made by Remedy, same guys who made Max Payne, Alan Wake, etc. They really love their weird paranormal convoluted plots. This game amps it to 11. Good luck trying to make any sense of the plot during the first playthrough.

After im done, i'll try Ancestors.
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iwansquall
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Last update for Shadow of War and all DLC.
Image

The Blade of Gadariel DLC
In this dlc, we are playing as female elf who have task to kill nazgul and prevent dark lord from conquering the world. She is kinda badass sidekick in main game and have plenty of neat skill that focused on light power. I can even say that this DLC is probably the best video games that represent "light power" since it have ability to blind and purge enemy.

Despite game having some sort of new gameplay mechanic, all map are reused from the main games and her skill is streamline to basic stuff. However, she have small array gear set that effectively change the elemental of her attack. Making play around elemental / counter more important than main game. There is some encounter that required you to have specific element or the fight will take very long time.

Desolation of Mordor DLC
Another short DLC that focus one of new map that arent important in the main game. He was the main bodyguard and one of the sidekick in couple of story mission for gondor (basically human). Interestingly, there is a returning character from 1st game's DLC that give our DLC's protagonist couple of new toys to play with.

Oh boy, he is human and he doesnt have resurrect power. So this DLC is designed around roguelike where if you died, you will have to capture all outpost again and trigger the outpost conquest mission again.Thankfully because of new skillset and ability, he is probably one of the most interesting part of the whole games for me. Although grappling hook & parachute is not something new (Just cause series) but it added new traversal ability in this series since it emphasize more on fast running and climbing.

Verdict:
DLC did added all new fun gameplay mechanic that I wanted when Shadow of War jumped from Shadow of Mordor. Sadly both of them are kinda short so I dunno if it gonna be worth the money (definitive edition is around 10 usd iirc). I enjoyed DLC more than main games, mainly because lack of gameplay innovation.

It took me 35 hours for main campaign, 4 hours for Gadariel DLC and 3 hours for Desolation of Mordor DLC.
The 78 hours is because I used some idler to farm trading cards.
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Prime_Evil
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Playing Man of Medan. Its the same kind of interactive movie where you decide the fate of the characters through your choices, like Until Dawn, which is also by Supermassive Games. Except this is about 5 people trapped in a ghost ship this time.
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iwansquall
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I was away for 4 days now back to gaming / watching anime mode.
Just finished Absolver.

Before I begin, I would to say that fighting + multiplayer games is a genre that I personally dont like, mainly because of the depth and competitiveness of game (same reason why i dont like fps multiplayer and stopping playing dota 2 all together). So I cant review all the online component for this game, which I will just focused solely on enjoyment of playing this solo PvE.

First issue I noticed with this game is the difficulty. It is kinda brawler with multiple enemy but it have combat more toward dark souls instead with stamina management and huge emphasize on combo of moveset. Generally I dont have any preference for moveset, so I just equipped what ever available to me. Speaking of multiple enemy, this game have difficulty issue where playing online will give super hard NPC while playing solo will give you super easy NPC where you can farm exp easily. My other issue with the game is the feeling from lack of progression either on player level / stats or equipment side. Since NPC is easy, you pretty much just have bosses as difficult encounter. There are about 8 bossess and each of have unique moveset that you can learn (basically you need to defend / dodge enemy attack to learn it as your move set), but frankly most of them are forgetable.

Biggest crime of absolver for me would be that everything else outside complex fighting mechanic, the game feel bareboned on characters, story, plot, progression. Although world look nice for their own unique biome, but sadly it very hard to navigate through, although it is quite small world map. I dont recommend you guys to buy / play this game unless you really enjoy multiplayer fighting games.

Alternative : As I said earlier, I dont like to play multiplayer fighting games, but if you insist wanting some other suggestion, probably I will recommend : For Honor which seem more polish, Furi for better boss fight. Spectacle fighter (DMC, Bayonetta) or any soulsborned like series is probably better IMO.


EDITED

Finished Gravistas

Im stumbled this on my new games list that is free and got mostly positive on steam. Since it is free, i dont see why I dont give the game a try. So this review will be short as well.

Gravitas is a game that play around physic and manipulating gravity (more like magnetic tunnel to me) where you can use special glove to put a portal on special surface where it can pull game object or launching yourself toward it. It kinda remind me of my recent game jam for some reason lol (https://iwansquall.itch.io/r3align). Game have quirky funny voice lines and gameplay mechanic are simple enough that I think it is perfect for newcomer to try.

If the game have much more level, probably i would recommend it, but since this game is short and free, why not give it a try. I even get 100% achievement since it is pretty much easy to clear.

Alternative : Attractio is the closest to this game. But if you want other physic puzzle plaftormer games then you have qbeh, qube, polarity which I have played on my library. Once you ready for big stuff, then Portal 1 & 2 is the ultimate experience.
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Prime_Evil
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Final Fantasy 8 Remastered.

PoE new league starts on the 9th and Code Vein is released on the 27th. Then Doom Eternal on november 22nd... if i have enough free time i wont have free time at all from all the bingefest on games, but realistically i wont.
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iwansquall
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II just finished Stealth Inc 2 and struggled for very long time because of several design decision.

Do you like to play platformer? How about puzzle game? Sneaking around in Stealth game? How about I ruined your day with some cat-mario level design. Oh, to make your life miserable, lets add fake metroid vania where progression is pretty much linear. You get this game. This is perfect game for people who love to play try & error, but as for me, it feel like fake difficulty that bloated gameplay time required to finish this game.

I really want to like this game, but as I mentioned earlier, it feel like a chore and i struggled to finish it. I believe I took more than 3 month playing casually because some death / level is just bullshit. First concept is level that can transform depending on status of the game, meaning while sometimes it open new path way to next destination, most of the time... it will include some death trap with it. Game are built around navigating around big area which basically a slow-to-navigate level selection. In each big area, there is test chamber where you can try new gadget and solve any puzzle in it. This gadget is what allowed you to go further into other big area. Gadget is probably one of the best design arsenal in video games it is quite clever and multi purpose. Sadly this, on big area, the usage is kinda limited for certain places, and you wont be using them much.

Stealth inc 2 couldve been a good puzzle games if it were designed linear instead of metroid-vania (especially when you dont have fast travel point...) that have unique puzzle mechanic. But because of several genre mismatch, this game is tedious and weird to play. Not to mention that many puzzle required precision, making you retry level a lot more than you should (basically you know how to solve them, but if your playing skill is sux, you will stuck for long time).

Alternative : Portal 1 & 2 seriously a winner here. If you want more precision / difficult platformer, then you have choice like vvvvvv or 3d game like Deadcore, Seum & a story about my uncle. If you want more casual puzzle platform, then there is Fez, Max: Curse of the Brotherhood, Pinstripe & maybe Teslagrad
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Frytas
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Finished Dark Souls 3 recently & replaying DS1 cause it's fun. Also the new Path of Exile league is alright, but I'll wait a few days until the market gets it shit together, prices at launch were even more retarded than usual.
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iwansquall
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Been about 48 hours since i have internet. So i just finished what ever I have installed on my pc.

Just finished Epistory.
This game is nice combination of small girl adventures and typing game. You playing in a world like zelda where you unlock 1 dungeon to another dungeon. At the end of dungeon, you will given out a new ability which needed to progress into another area. Game is pretty fun in sense like everything feel like a story book unfolded into 3d world. Your task is basically to eradicate "bugs" from the world by typing word on top of their head.

As programmer myself, i dont have much issue playing this game. Although the game feel sometimes too easy, the atmosphere alone is feeling chill and relaxing. You required to type to do action in this game from switching ability, opening a door, unfolding a bridge and surviving mass hordes of bugs at end of each dungeon.

Epistory is short game (actually depend on how fast you can type) and chill & tense at certain area. Puzzle sometimes is abit tricky, but not that hard usually. If you want to play typing games, i recommend this.

Alternative : Since I dont play any other typing games, perhaps I can recommend chill game. AER, Rime is for chilling atmosphere. For chill like protagonist, Song of the deep or Child of Light
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iwansquall
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Finished Town of Light

I generally quite a fan of walking simulator, however the one that i really dislike is the version that give you gameplay with speed of snail and clueless for majority of the game. I can only play like 2 hours until i decided that it is enough, then i have to use speedhack and walkthrough to ease my time finishing the game. My gosh, some stuff are really obscure, that required you to fiddle around with various room and stuff.

As for the sorry, this is about a girl that went back to abandoned hospital (for people with mental illness) where she trying to uncover her past. From there, she went through several big area in the hospital, and unfolding a mystery for a girl name that you not exactly sure who. There are several branching paths you can choose from this game, all lead to different conclusion on who she is. There is several weird flash back and the horror of hospital's staff have done to their patient. This lead to severe unease moment through the game as she tried to recall her memories.

Game is not that long (less than 4 hours i guess) but you will get lost a lot in this game. Many of the path are straight forward, but you need to visit certain location to trigger the cutscene before you can proceed forward, which lead my frustration with the game. This is probably one of the walking simulator im having hard to recommend / finish.

Alternative : Vanishing of Ethan Carter is way better with atmospheric story telling. If you want 2D version, then you can Neverending Nightmare game. But personally, I really like getting lost in murder mystery game called Painscreek Killing which have quite nice atmosphere as well.