whatchu playing now

Oystein I have been obsessed with binding of Isaac for years now myself

so wait Vampire Survivors costs $2.50 and is super lightweight? Should I just buy this?

Yes

(I guess that depends on what you mean by lightweight. I was thinking more about the scale of the game, the tiny download, that kind of stuff. But if you meant lightweight as in the gameplay, it’s something you can play with one hand and coast through the first 10 minutes, if you’re killing time, or you can pay close attention and try to do the perfect run and get through 30 minutes

Oh no I meant lightweight as in the minimum system requirements say it can be installed on Windows 7 lol

in that case, yes! haha

At certain points it spawns hundreds? thousands? of enemies on screen, so that might be taxing on older CPUs.

What are people's favorite characters? Gennaro for that sweet sweet duplication, and Poe for untouchable tankiness. (Note: I haven't cleared the Inlaid Library yet.)

Been playing V rising in early access, it's basically a vampire-themed reskin of Valheim

I am only maybe 5 hours into V Rising, but so far this comparison isn't fair to either game. It is true that they both have crafting systems and you can build yourself a home, but the similarities end there. V Rising so far is way more goal-driven and has way less of an emphasis on creativity (and maybe exploration, but it's hard to tell this early in the game). Valheim was very much make-your-own-adventure with a strong emphasis on collaboration. I probably put 60 hours into Valheim and did basically did all one can do in it.

I haven't tried V Rising's PvP mode, but the PvE experience so far is almost console-like. Strong emphasis on the combat system, filling in the ability tree, and getting quests done. Things I don't like so far are the daylight mechanic and the time it takes to chop down trees and break nodes.

For me Valheim was Elder Scrolls + Minecraft, V Rising is Diablo + Animal Crossing :P

What are people's favorite characters?

Mine are also Gennaro and Poe, mainly the latter lately since garlic is such a killer weapon and starting with it means I can lock into a build of garlic + 1 ranged weapon early, which allows me to focus my weapon upgrades and pour points into damage or area buffs.

just started playing Beyond the Beyond, didn't realize that the Shining Force folks made an early psx rpg!

Vampire Survivors progress update: I have gotten good enough with Poe to reliably make it to the end of stages. I’m finding that the evolved whip + the evolved bible is a game-breaking combination, especially if I can also get the evolved lightning ring.

V Survivors is great. I’m glad I actually supported that early.

Anybody playing Shipbreaker? The…storyline, you could call it, makes me very fucking happy for topic reasons

I have decided to (attempt to) play through a large portion of the Sonic The Hedgehog series, including but not limited to:

Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Master System)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
Sonic CD (Sega CD)
Sonic Chaos (Master System)
Sonic Spinball (Genesis)
Sonic 3 + Knuckles (Genesis)
Sonic Triple Trouble (Game Gear)
Knuckles Chaotix (32X)
Tails Skypatrol (Game Gear)
Tails Adventure (Game Gear)
Sonic Blast (Master System)
Sonic 3D Blast Director's Cut (Genesis)
Sonic Pocket Adventure (Neo Geo Pocket Color)

comments so far: I've only played through the first Sonic game for Genesis. It is SO nice playing with save states. It's definitely a jumping off point for the rest of the series, the levels aren't as spectacular and there's no spin dash etc, but it was a fun and nostalgic playthrough. I've attempted Sonic CD several times and immediately get confused and give up, it's like... TOO huge and sprawling and confusing and I'm always baffled by the hype. But I've decided to like sit down and read how it actually works so that I can play it correctly.

nvm everything is on hold bcz I just started Vampire Survivors and omfg

lol love to see it

Poe is good early on but later garlic doesn't do enough damage. Bible is better as it gets enemies off you and does better damage. Of the normal characters I go with the ones with good starting weapons. I think I'm almost done with the game as I have a brokenly powerful secret character. Still have arcana to unlock.

Yeah the Arcana are surprisingly hard to get. Gennaro is my main but I haven't been getting close to level 99 so far.

I just spent an hour playing Infinitode 2 which is the most fiendishly difficult tower defence game ever made, couldn't even get past the first level.

lol I think the clue is in the title of the game - there is no end to the level!

haha

I had fun with infinitode a few years ago. I reached a point where it became a grind and I stopped.

I recently had a similar thing with Defense Zone 3, these type of games are absolutely rubbish but also horribly addictive to me!

Any suggestions (e.g. which level, character, etc.) to get the Infinite Corridor evolution?

I used one of the high movement speed characters, Krochi I think, and got the wings. Not sure what stage I used.

VS updated with some new art, which, w/e. But, I unlocked an arcana that makes the Infinite Corridor/Crimson Cloak evolutions SO much easier: https://vampire-survivors.fandom.com/wiki/Mad_Groove_(VIII)

lol of course that link won't work because of the parentheses, so it's the Mad Groove Arcana.

Just finished the first Danganronpa game and it was a pretty good time! Maybe a little too "LOL WACKY" at times, but fun nonetheless. I'm not sure it adequately ever found the right tonal balance between grimness, wackiness, and earnestness, but imbalance feels thematically appropriate for what it is.

I've been itching for a mindless hack n' slash to play lately, preferably very cheap or on Game Pass. If anyone has a suggestion, let me know.

how tf do you get to level 60 in the Dairy Plant in Vampire Survivors

A little bit of luck on the weapons you get.

Also, buy powerups! They make a BIG difference, especially the first row, so even if you're saving to buy one of the more expensive powerups, I think that incrementally improving might or cooldown in the meantime will make things a lot easier for you (and you can always refund your powerups at no penalty to respec them).

Has anyone played Fatal Frame? Should I just skip right to the 2nd one?

Can't remember how much of Fatal Frame I completed (a third? I'd gotten outside the house to a shrine) before being distracted by later gen consoles years ago, but it's fun. Lots of jump scares, very atmospheric. I'm not great with the camera controls, so was playing with a walkthrough to try and check off more ghosts. Have FF2 and FF3 on the large 'to play' pile, but haven't started them, so can't say skip or not. Think they're connected thematically (Japanese legends) but not with characters.

I just started Sanitarium last night, it's good and fun, and fairly creepy! but not like, scary. Maybe I'll try Outlast or Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

It's too hot for gaming!!!!

play beach zone in Sonic Adventure 1

ha, i still have that for my DC

It's also good weather for playing Outrun

To be fair, there is no *bad* weather for playing Outrun

Playing Outrun has been shown to alleviate the symptoms of Seasonal Affective Disorder*

*this statement has not been evaluated by the FDA

I have a certain selection of games that I always associate with Summer and general loverly-ness.

Most are old Sega driving games (Outrun, Super Hang On, Powerdrift, Rally, etc). Others include Rampage, Vice City, Kick Off (Final Whistle), Galaxians.

But my lounge is so hot in the day right now, I do not like making my PC perform things like gta5 - at least not without removing one side of the casing as whoever designed the fans/airflow inside it was an idiot.

i don't play Outrun unless i'm in the arcade unit that shakes. it's not the same otherwise and i refuse

Started Borderlands on the Switch. It's kinda dumb and redundant so far.

redundant?

(i'm not a big fan of the series, but i really, REALLY suck at first person shooters)

I suck, too. By redundant I mean it feels kinda like I'm doing the same mission over and over again. Which maybe is the point? I don't think I've played first person shooters besides ... "Doom"? For sure games with FPS aspects, but this, that seems to be the whole point so far. I think I read something that the game is maybe at its best in multiplayer?

feels kinda like I'm doing the same mission over and over again.

yeah, i definitely got that feeling. i played quite a bit of the first and second games in the series, and in both cases i just got bored (to the point where when a particularly hard part got me stuck for an hour, i just quit because life is short)

I played the first two a lot. The atmosphere and feel of them was a big part of the appeal, but the most fun I had was playing online co-op with a friend or two. Like most class-based multiplayer games, the combat is tuned for a group.

I started it because I'll be seeing my Aussie nephew in a couple of days, and this seems like a fun game he and I can play together.

yeah, multiplayer makes the game a lot better. what makes the game repetitive in single-player (an infinite series of 2-hour missions where you check 2 main boxes, each of which has 3 sub-check boxes, with a 13.5% chance of finding a better weapon along the way) is a blast with friends and nice because the general structure of play is predictable enough that you can plan an evening around it. basically, like Destiny (which i haven't played) i think

borderlands has more to do w diablo than it does w doom

I've never played Diablo.