Weekly Roundup

[HellioN]

 

[Lagduf]

Space Marine 2 is absolutely badass.

The co-op missions are also well designed in that they’re basically missions that show what the other squads of marines supporting the main character’s squad are doing off camera.

I have had some issues on Xbox with long load times and failure to contact the server when playing campaign and co-op with a friend.

We actually lost a ton of progress on the final mission which is kind of annoying. Put us back almost to the start

 

[Raph4]

Deathloop (PC Steam)

 

[Taiso]

If you want to go off the deep end there are hundreds of 40K books. Some better than others.

Because of how many there are not all of them are always available in print, however, a good many of the books are available in audiobook format.

Also lol @ your nephew wanting to be the good guy. I’m sure you love him but he sounds like a heretic.

The first three books in the Horus Heresy Series might be worth a read to see how the whole past 10,000 years in the imperium came to be (or rather, started at least…)

I have been watching a shit ton of lore videos on YT and picked up a few books for the Cubicle 7 RPG Wrath and Glory:

Starter Set
Core Rulebook
GM Screen
Threat Assessment: Xenos

I will probably pick up those Horus Heresy omnibuses and read those. And yeah, audio might be a good way to go for some of these.

A friend of mine just sent me a link to his dropbox with a ton of PDFs from the Dark Heresy line from Fantasy Flight and a lot of the miniatures games rulebooks and codexes. So I got a ton to read.

My nephew is actually a pretty cool guy. He's just not into the particular grimdark of 40K because it's a losing battle against Chaos and the Tyranids no matter what. He likes Berserk because despite how grim and dark it is, there remains that sliver of hope that humanity can win out if you just Struggle and survive long enough to find the solution. From what I've seen, 40K doesn't really offer much in the way of a path through. It's very Norselike in its Ragnarok fated destruction. It's like the Emperor is fighting a battle he knows he can't win but he's going to do it anyway. That is Odin vibes, right there.

If we ever end up playing Wrath and Glory, I think the survivalist nature of that game would suit his preferences better. Space Marines are the coolest fucking thing in 40K but it's a lot of noise, bloodshed and monotony. Most people don't have or believe in something that fanatically. It can be pretty hard for moderate people to role play that sort of thing.

Just finished the 1P campaign today. It was fun and I really enjoyed it. Not sure if I'll dive into the multiplayer until they add a horde mode. That was my favorite part of Gears of War.

 

[Taiso]

The PDFs my friend gave me were all of the Soulbound RPG stuff (interesting take on Warhammer Fantasy) and a bunch of stuff from Fantasy Flight's Black Crusade. I already have all of Soulbound but there's still plenty of good reading to be had there.

Just fired up Space Hulk Ascension on Steam. Man, I forgot how good that game is.

 

[Lagduf]

I might have some FFG Warhammer 40K PDFs. I’ll have to check later tonight.

I have Rogue Trader and Deathwatch in actual print. I have Wrath and Glory (first edition) but I want to get Imperium Maledictum.

 

[max 330 megafartz]

Squirrel with a gun (its short but awesome and hilarious)
Doom 2 wads: Ray Mohawk 1 and 2.

 

[Taiso]

I might have some FFG Warhammer 40K PDFs. I’ll have to check later tonight.

I have Rogue Trader and Deathwatch in actual print. I have Wrath and Glory (first edition) but I want to get Imperium Maledictum.

The thing I like about the TTRPG games is that most of them specifically showcase aspects of the 40K universe outside of the Imperium and its Space Marines.

Space Marines are the coolest thing about 40K for sure, but almost all of the video games seem to focus on them. That's fine because in a video game based on 40K, I want to play with all that heavy ordnance and watch things explode like blood sausages.

But I always wonder how other people survive in that oppressive semi-theocratic environment. There is no room for dissent within the Imperium and the horrors of the Warp are threatening everything all the time. How does anyone even exist on the fringes or in the spaces in between?

 

[BeefJerky]

Ghost of Tsushima

Finally went on a Steam sale. I've been wanting to play this game for a hot minute. Slightly disappointing in some ways because I can't really differentiate the gameplay from Sony's other open-world games like Horizon (couldn't stick with it) or Days Gone (great, but only because of the zombie hordes). The story is amazing (just cleared Act 1), so is the world it takes place in. My favorite part of the game is saying, "Oooooo! I hate a Mongorians!" while I play. Aside from the world built for it, it's not really as special as what I'd heard, but still an above average open-world schtick. Glad I didn't buy a PS4 just to play it.

That said, really hoping Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 goes on Steam sale soon. It's a game universe I'd like to get into more, but the lore is so dense (as evidenced by Lagduf and Taiso's posts), and I'm just not sure I'm sold on getting swept into it. Plus, the only time I bought a major release for full price on Steam was Starfield and I was hugely disappointed in Bethesda for that $70.

EDIT: Watching Samurai X OVAs in between Ghost of Tsushima sessions is bad af. Bing bong! Fuck ya life!

 

[terry.330]

Ghost of Tsushima

Finally went on a Steam sale. I've been wanting to play this game for a hot minute. Slightly disappointing in some ways because I can't really differentiate the gameplay from Sony's other open-world games like Horizon (couldn't stick with it) or Days Gone (great, but only because of the zombie hordes). The story is amazing (just cleared Act 1), so is the world it takes place in. My favorite part of the game is saying, "Oooooo! I hate a Mongorians!" while I play. Aside from the world built for it, it's not really as special as what I'd heard, but still an above average open-world schtick. Glad I didn't buy a PS4 just to play it.

The meat and potatoes gameplay structure isn't anything amazing especially in the first chunk of the game but it gets better once you get a bunch of different ninja weapons and techniques. It also becomes a very different type of game if you bump up the difficulty. It's one of the only games where the enemies and your character are equal so you have to use a lot more strategy and those ho-hum raids and bandit encounters can become pretty epic.

 

[BeefJerky]

The meat and potatoes gameplay structure isn't anything amazing especially in the first chunk of the game but it gets better once you get a bunch of different ninja weapons and techniques. It also becomes a very different type of game if you bump up the difficulty. It's one of the only games where the enemies and your character are equal so you have to use a lot more strategy and those ho-hum raids and bandit encounters can become pretty epic.

Definitely noticed the difficulty settings when I started. Set to normal for now but I'm kicking it up to the highest setting for the next playthrough. Enemies being able to kill you in one hit should make things interesting.

 

[yagamikun]

Been enjoying the PC port of Final Fantasy XVI - I love DMC and Bayonetta, though, so I'm really enjoying the more action-focused departure for this entry.

Also, the game UFO50 on Steam caught my eye this week. Probably pick this up to play on my Steam Deck soon.

 

[Lagduf]

I have been watching a shit ton of lore videos on YT and picked up a few books for the Cubicle 7 RPG Wrath and Glory:

Starter Set
Core Rulebook
GM Screen
Threat Assessment: Xenos

I will probably pick up those Horus Heresy omnibuses and read those. And yeah, audio might be a good way to go for some of these.

A friend of mine just sent me a link to his dropbox with a ton of PDFs from the Dark Heresy line from Fantasy Flight and a lot of the miniatures games rulebooks and codexes. So I got a ton to read.

My nephew is actually a pretty cool guy. He's just not into the particular grimdark of 40K because it's a losing battle against Chaos and the Tyranids no matter what. He likes Berserk because despite how grim and dark it is, there remains that sliver of hope that humanity can win out if you just Struggle and survive long enough to find the solution. From what I've seen, 40K doesn't really offer much in the way of a path through. It's very Norselike in its Ragnarok fated destruction. It's like the Emperor is fighting a battle he knows he can't win but he's going to do it anyway. That is Odin vibes, right there.

If we ever end up playing Wrath and Glory, I think the survivalist nature of that game would suit his preferences better. Space Marines are the coolest fucking thing in 40K but it's a lot of noise, bloodshed and monotony. Most people don't have or believe in something that fanatically. It can be pretty hard for moderate people to role play that sort of thing.

Just finished the 1P campaign today. It was fun and I really enjoyed it. Not sure if I'll dive into the multiplayer until they add a horde mode. That was my favorite part of Gears of War.

Ok, I finally found my 40K RPG PDFs.

I believe I have all the PDF's for material released for FFG's Deathwatch and Rogue Trader including the core books. Rogue Trader might be of interest to you from a lore perspective, though certainly a Rogue Trader is far from the "average" imperial citizen.

Sadly I don't have any stuff for Dark Heresy.

I can kick the pdfs your way if you want.

 

[Taiso]

Ok, I finally found my 40K RPG PDFs.

I believe I have all the PDF's for material released for FFG's Deathwatch and Rogue Trader including the core books. Rogue Trader might be of interest to you from a lore perspective, though certainly a Rogue Trader is far from the "average" imperial citizen.

Sadly I don't have any stuff for Dark Heresy.

I can kick the pdfs your way if you want.

PM me.

 

[Neodogg]

PM me.

You know those go both ways…kind of like roker’s mom…

 

[Raph4]

Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

 

[fake]

PS4 on PS5 AKA PS5
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Cleared all the normal missions. Now trying to get all the patches in the main mission. 8/9 so far.

 

[Taiso]

PS4 on PS5 AKA PS5
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. Cleared all the normal missions. Now trying to get all the patches in the main mission. 8/9 so far.

Ground Zeroes was excellent. Such a fun little experience. It's too bad that Phantom Pain was such a disaster by comparison.

 

[fake]

Ground Zeroes was excellent. Such a fun little experience. It's too bad that Phantom Pain was such a disaster by comparison.

I haven't played Phantom Pain yet. It seemed pretty silly to release another MGS game after 4, which wrapped everything up so nicely. I know V is a prequel so it's not necessarily unraveling anything, but JFC just let MGS go out on a high note. I think I'm going to give R3make a whirl and then do Phantom Pain.

 

[Taiso]

I haven't played Phantom Pain yet. It seemed pretty silly to release another MGS game after 4, which wrapped everything up so nicely. I know V is a prequel so it's not necessarily unraveling anything, but JFC just let MGS go out on a high note. I think I'm going to give R3make a whirl and then do Phantom Pain.

When you get around to playing Phantom Pain, tell us what you think of the jeep ride.

 

[RBjakeSpecial]

Also, the game UFO50 on Steam caught my eye this week. Probably pick this up to play on my Steam Deck soon.

UFO 50 looks so cool. I'm going to get it eventually. I've been hearing really good stuff and the Spelunky guy is the main programmer it looks like.

I've fallen so deep into the Wizardry: The Five Ordeals rabbit hole. The game comes with 6 scenarios (full games pretty much), for DLC you can get the 2006 PS2 game, and there's a full scenario editor. There is so much content. I'm almost 90 hours in and just bought it a couple weeks back. You can download user made scenarios (there's over a 100 online now)... so it's like unlimited amounts of Wizardry.

Here are some things I like:

- The game is *fully playable* with only the keyboard and it feels very response, almost like playing Rogue or NetHack. Alternatively, the game pad works well and the game plays very well on my ROG Ally so I'm assuming the Steam Deck would have a similar good play experience.

- You can toggle between animated or snap turn. I found myself eventually landing on the animated turns.

 

[Takumaji]

Atari 2600

Laser Gates - Nice game, although it seems a tad bit overrated to me. It usually goes for around 20+ bucks cart-only, scored one for 3 bucks at a garage sale around the corner, has no label but who cares. Gotta play it for a while to see what the fuss is all about.

Atari 5200 (emu)

Carol Shaw's River Raid - River Raid is one of my fav games on 2600 and I didn't think I would see a proper version of it on any other system but the 5200 one is spot on in every aspect. Very nice physics (inertia), graphics have been improved compared to the original and it's quite fast and highly addictive. Excellent version.

Atari 7800

Xenophobe - Gets mixed to bad reviews these days, people compare it to the arcade original and point out the 7800 version flaws, like the infamous jump on up but I have no problem with that, I'm used to pushing up to jump on micro computer games, dunno why some people hate it so much. I really dig the game a lot, simple but effective gameplay, nice graphics for a 7800 game, sound fx are okay, music sucks (that's the ol' TIA chip for ya). Nice difficulty curve, great for an hour or so every now and then.

Donkey Kong jr. - I was obsessed with the game when the cab came out, the NES version was excellent but I didn't have the console back then so I had to cope with the rather inferior C64 and Speccy ports. The 7800 version looks good and plays great, it's (almost) all there and works very well. The NES version might be better looking but I actually prefer the 7800 version over it due to it's overall look-and-feel. Maybe I'm just used to it, dunno, love it all the same.

Master System and C64

Wonderboy - The C64 version was my go-to version back in the day, I was hoping for a proper release on Genny but Sega didn't do me the favour, probably because it had already been released on SMS a few years prior. Compared to the arcade original, the SMS version is almost spot-on when it comes to graphics, sound and basic gameplay, with some exceptions like the skateboard which has a weaker brake effect and thus isn't as useful as the original one, there are also some missing graphics and the level layout is different. The C64 version doesn't look like much at first sight, lack of animation of the main character makes it feel stiff at first but the WB flow is defo there once you really get down to it, that's why I still love this version a lot.

Mega Drive

Metal Dragon - Still can't get enough of this awesome game, IMO it's the best "home-brew" (I prefer to call it pro-brew) game of the last 10 years for the Genny. Mindless but fun shooting action, tongue-in-cheek story, very good graphics, music and sound fx. If you like 2D run and gun shooters, give this one a try.

 

[Average Joe]

Almost October so it's time for all spooky games.

Been playing RE5 and was about to try out Corpse Party for the first time.

Probably play Doki Doki Literature Club soon too as that is a favorite of mine.

 

[ggallegos1]

PS5
Ghosts of Tsushima - Played the Iki Island DLC before we tackle the last mission. Great bit of content and adds a lot to Jin's character. I particularly loved the armor skins paying tribute to Bloodborne, God of War, and Shadow of the Colossus. Likely will finish the game today or tomorrow. Fantastic experience

 

[yoshi41]

Just beaten the end boss of Visions of Mana. Great game, lots to explore.

Had a couple of game crashes. Miss the days without updates and crashes.