General Gaming Megathread: What are you playing?

I am currently replaying Homeworld 1 again (the original version, not the remastered version. It looks better but it does not have the same stats/balance as the original plus tactics don't work as well) and Homeworld Cataclysm.

Back then I already noticed the differences in gameplay and how Barking Dog Studios had fixed some of the flaws Relic had left in the original game such as being able to select and command ships in the large map. The mothership becoming more than just a mobile factory; it was now a powerful asset that could be used in battles. And of course being able to speed up or slow down time so that you did not have give orders at a frantic pace when things go bad.

I have not replayed Homeworld 2 in ages and I am not looking forwards to do so again. The graphics are definitely nice but I did not like a lot of the changes in the gameplay which in some cases was a regression from Homeworld Cataclysm. (I think Relic may not have liked that Barking Dog, just like Obsidian would with Bethesda, kind of upstaged them with making a game that genuinely felt better in various key areas)

Then there were also horrible re-balancing issues such as the computer automatically compensating for the number of ships the player would have by increasing the number of opponent ships. This basically nerfed being a conservative commander who seeks to preserve as much vessels as possible.
From what I also heard the enemy attacks in HW2 continue until the player has accomplished the missions in the level so there is no chance that you can defeat the enemy through attrition.

Last, I just did not like the storyline, all the retcons to HW1's storyline and the introduction of magical hyperdrive cores, the HW analogue of the Force, and basically ignoring Homeworld Cataclysm.

I think that was one of the first cases in which my interest in a franchise was killed because a studio made an in general inferior sequel to an original game, both story and gameplay wise.

I have not played Homeworld Deserts of Kharak yet which I will do after finishing HW1 and Cata.


Next to that I have been playing on and off with a SNES emulator, playing old Interplay SNES titles such as Claymates, Lost Vikings 1 & 2, Blackthorne, Rock N Roll Racing, Robocop Vs the Terminator (not the best licensed game but I find it okay).

I really was a big Interplay (and Lucasarts) fan during the 90s and playing these games, even if some of them have aged, reminds me why.
Man, Fargo really screwed the pooch if I understand correctly that the company got into financial trouble due to mismanagement.

If I can afford it in the future I would like to own all those games I mentioned above physically, because it reminds me of better times when I genuinely felt happy.
 
Chuckie Egg.

I used to think Arcanum was my favourite game, and objectively, it still is. But more than 30 years later, I'm still playing Chuckie Egg so that has to be the number one.

Whenever I'm just sat around, sat on a train, or waiting for the postman, or whatever, I'm playing Chuckie Egg. But mostly, I'm playing it at work. On the night shift, there's a long spell of time when nothing happens...but you can't play anything involving like Black Isle/Troika games because you still need to have an awareness of your surroundings.

So, I'm currently still playing Chuckie Egg, over three decades later.
 
I am currently replaying Homeworld 1 again (the original version, not the remastered version. It looks better but it does not have the same stats/balance as the original plus tactics don't work as well) and Homeworld Cataclysm.

Back then I already noticed the differences in gameplay and how Barking Dog Studios had fixed some of the flaws Relic had left in the original game such as being able to select and command ships in the large map. The mothership becoming more than just a mobile factory; it was now a powerful asset that could be used in battles. And of course being able to speed up or slow down time so that you did not have give orders at a frantic pace when things go bad.

I have not replayed Homeworld 2 in ages and I am not looking forwards to do so again. The graphics are definitely nice but I did not like a lot of the changes in the gameplay which in some cases was a regression from Homeworld Cataclysm. (I think Relic may not have liked that Barking Dog, just like Obsidian would with Bethesda, kind of upstaged them with making a game that genuinely felt better in various key areas)

Then there were also horrible re-balancing issues such as the computer automatically compensating for the number of ships the player would have by increasing the number of opponent ships. This basically nerved being a conservative commander who seeks to preserve as much vessels as possible.
From what I also heard the enemy attacks in HW2 continue until the player has accomplished the missions in the level so there is no chance that you can defeat the enemy through attrition.

Last, I just did not like the storyline, all the retcons to HW1's storyline and the introduction of magical hyperdrive cores, the HW analogue of the Force, and basically ignoring Homeworld Cataclysm.

I think that was one of the first cases in which my interest in a franchise was killed because a studio made an in general inferior sequel to an original game, both story and gameplay wise.

I have not played Homeworld Deserts of Kharak yet which I will do after finishing HW1 and Cata.


Next to that I have been playing on and off with a SNES emulator, playing old Interplay SNES titles such as Claymates, Lost Vikings 1 & 2, Blackthorne, Rock N Roll Racing, Robocop Vs the Terminator (not the best licensed game but I find it okay).

I really was a big Interplay (and Lucasarts) fan during the 90s and playing these games, even if some of them have aged, reminds me why.
Man, Fargo really screwed the pooch if I understand correctly that the company got into financial trouble due to mismanagement.

If I can afford it in the future I would like to own all those games I mentioned above physically, because it reminds me of better times when I genuinely felt happy.
I am curious about Homeworld and it's comparison to Galactic Civ 2...which I found to be a bit shallow.
 
I am curious about Homeworld and it's comparison to Galactic Civ 2...which I found to be a bit shallow.

They are not the same kind of game, Homeworld is not a galactic civilization manager like for example Master of Orion.

Rather it is a strategy series like Command and Conquer and Starcraft but set in space with the world really being in three dimensions. Ships do not move on a single plane but can actually move "up" and "down".

It is also level campaign based, you can't choose your own path through the galaxy.

There is of course also a multiplayer mode.

Homeworld Deserts of Kharak, the "prequel" to Homeworld is a more traditional planet surface based RTS but recreating some of the ideas of Homeworld such as instead of having a static base the player controls a massive carrier that can develop and manufacture various machines and weapons, serves as an aircraft carrier and is basically the center of your "task force".
 
In that case I will just play the Ultimate Apocalypse Dawn of War mod.

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It zooms all the way out, among other things. Heaven. Now we need to make a Fallout version of it, and we have ourselves a spinoff. Some units are close enough tbh. So many ideas. so little time.

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Currently replaying DMC 3 and I dont remember it being this hard.
Of course it might be my fault for button mashing and rushing through missions.
Might get the style switcher mod to make it easier.
 
Just finished Claymates, a "mascot" platformer for the SNES. With Mascot platformers I mean platform games of the 90s that featured a character like Mario or Sonic that were made up by other developers to compete with these.
Claymates was developed by Visual Concepts for Interplay and featured various animals originally made of clay that were... hmm I don't recall the technique right now but wasn't traditionally fully made in the game engine but rather made physically and then "scanned" into the game in various poses.

I rather liked this game because one of the characters is a cat and I happen to love cats.

But damn the platforming can become quite harrowing and unfair near the end of the game or I just really have come to suck at these games as there are some quick ways to die in the later levels with there not being many save points.
And the last boss fight can feel really cheap as it the games goes from platforming to a side scrolling shooter in which usually one hit can kill, forcing you to start over. It rather forced me to cheat with save states.

Still I rather have a soft spot for this game because of its charms just like I do with a lot of Interplay games. I would not have minded a sequel.
There is a good reason why they were together with Lucasarts, Konami, and Capcom one of my favorite publishers in the 90s.
 
Konami is technically spiritually gone. Or maybe they were always gone and they had better masks in their younger years. :shrug:
 
Too bad they're gone now.
Capcom seems to be doing well tho.

Sadly that is the case, even Capcom has its "hiccups" lately.
I have not been interested in their main franchises in ages such Resident Evil (I never cared for Streetfighter) though I did buy and play Revelations 1 and 2. I enjoyed 1 more than 2
I also got Resi 6 but I could just not finish it as I grew so bored with it.

The only Capcom game I was really into in these last five years I think was Strider 2014. I really enjoyed that game and felt it was a good successor to Strider 1 and 2, and Strider NES. (I do prefer the character and machine designs of Strider 2 though)

One game of theirs that I really wanted to play but sadly never made it to the West was EX Troopers. Funny, the one Lost Planet game that actually caught my attention was a Japanese exclusive only.


Konami is technically spiritually gone. Or maybe they were always gone and they had better masks in their younger years. :shrug:

Sadly that is true, I have been following the development of Konami on and off over these last couple of years.
It definitely is not the company anymore that once made some of my favorite console and Arcade games. Had this been their mindset back in the 80s and 90s I don't think they would even support a project such as Snatcher or Policenauts, projects definitely geared to a minority of gamers.

Hmm, Konami really became big in the West through their adaptations of popular cartoons into games such as TMNT. When I started to think about what their inhouse IPs are such as with Capcom that list was a lot shorter; from what I immediately recall its Metal Gear (duh), Silent Hill, Contra, Castlevania, Twin Bee, Goemon, Rocket Knight. Rather a significant number of these are geared towards Japan's audience because Konami never translated some of the games to the West to build a Western fan base with them. (well in Twin Bee's case I would not have followed the series as they are overhead scrolling shooters. The only one I liked of that series was the platformer spin off Pop'n Twinbee Rainbow Bell Adventures)

They also published some games developed by other developers such as Cybernator and Zombies Ate My Neighbors.

Anyway if Metal Gear Survive is an indication of things to come I doubt I will ever buy their games again.
 
Really wish Capcom wont fuck up Monster Hunter, DMC V, and RE2.
Megaman 11 from the announcement trailer looks like Mighty No.9.
 
Getting close to the end of Witcher 3 before I do the DLCs. I like the game but I prefer the other two to this one honestly.
Then I'm onto Tyranny after that. I've never truly beat the STALKER games so I might do that as well.
 
Endless Space 2

Not sure what to think of this game. On one hand, I love the art, the music, the universe presented in it and most importantly I like playing it...until some point when stuff just gets too finicky and convoluted and AI goes bonkers. I could deal with the convoluted aspect of it - it is a 4x game after all, and does require time to master - but AI is just weird, somewhere between simply confusing and completely annoying.

But the biggest offender is the tech tree. It is the worst I've ever seen in any game. Very impractical to navigate, it basically kills my willingness to bother with Science research. Come to think of it, it's very similar to Civ Beyond Earth tech tree, which was also poorly designed.
 
Danganronppa (PC) and Crash N.Sane Trilogy (Switch)

Danganronpa is fun, scratches the Ace Attorney Itch really well while being distinctive enough.

I love having Crash on the Go, I am glad I bought it on the Switch instead of on PC.
 
Heard Danganropa had bad-okay writing tho.
Also, since when was Crash on PC?
 
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