What are you nerds playing this weekend?

We played more Ghostbusters over the weekend on the Switch. It's pretty cool because my daughter who is the least into games of the three, is the one who played it, and is on the very last stage now. It was a lot of fun to watch her play something like that, and be so into it. I squeezed in a little bit of Gunlord myself.
 
Replayed SWAT 4 and the expansion with the SEF mod. Still fun and holds up well.

Also Ace Combat 7 multiplayer.
 
I'm going for a weekend trip but I can't wait to get back Sunday and play some outer worlds.
 
Weekend Trip here but when I am back, BL3 with the wife. She can't play mario but she can play Borderlands its crazy.
 
Not a damn thing. Blackout happening in Northern California so no gaming, or anything else going on, this weekend.

I will be using late afternoon/evening time today to continue working on a mod for Fallout New Vegas. Trying to achieve the goal of late BETA release by February next year but if these blackouts keep occurring then it'll have to be pushed back.
 
9 day weekend next week Walmart PTO :p When I stay up to play games I stay up like 20 hours a crack.
New Samsung 24" CRGR VA monitor to play these gems with.

Call of Duty MW___ Update: done
The Outer Worlds___Update: done
Code Vein
Remnant____Update done this game is Hardcore.
Borderlands Halloween __Update: done
Killing Floor Halloween map ___Update: done
Ghost Recon Breakpoint____Update: done
Rage 2___Update: Finished
Pillars of Eternity 2
 
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Still playing through Metroid Prime hack, when I get free time. I'm up to Norfair at this point.
 
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I'll probably pick it up. I really liked the game on ps4 and I'd love to test it out on my new gaming pc.
 
Nearly done with Link Between Worlds. I'm not sure if I'll continue the Zelda streak right now or not. It might be time to do a 100% Super Mario World run. I tend to do those in the fall for some reason. Not sure why that is. Every year, it's Zelda and Mario in the fall, then back to my normal gaming habits. :D

I'm also picking up Outbuddies today. Looks extremely fun.

 
Steam has put up a bunch of stuff on sale (I create a wishlist and get notifications for when stuff goes on sale... it turns out most of my wishlist got hit all at once, so I assume there's a larger sale going on).
I picked up Tomb Raider (2013) and Metro 2033 Redux and Last Light for a total of $11.

Right now I'm playing through Tomb Raider, although I have to say I already have criticisms for it.
The QTE's are annoying af and they accomplish the opposite for me of their intention. They're supposed to be suspenseful and draw you into the visceral nature of what Lara is going through. But I find that they are something that just kills me a bunch of times, takes me out of the game and forces me to look at the raw mechanics of memorizing what to do for the QTE rather than "narrowly escaping" and being excited or increasing the tension.
I also feel like a good portion of the game is on rails and forces you down really specific paths (certain parts of the game literally force the camera to go in one direction and won't let you look around) in order to make those moments seem more epic and/or cinematic (such as with falling rocks or collapsing buildings etc). It's very much an "Uncharted" thing to do, but I'm not fan of it in either case. I always notice when my control is artificially limited. On console this is probably less of an issue, but with keyboard and mouse it's noticeable immediately.

What the game is doing well it does really well. I like the setting and the mystery of it. It's very moody. Which very much feels like that's what a Tomb Raider game should have been about all along. I'm playing this game with ZERO knowledge. Meaning I don't know what the story is or the mechanics of the game or anything at all. And because of that, I feel like it's really refreshing to play. I'm still relatively early in the game and I don't fully feel like the game has allowed me to go completely open world with it yet, but the exploration of areas and the collection all feels really good.
I like the graphics a lot and even though 2013 is probably dated for some of you by current standards, I think the graphics hold up fairly well. TressFX on the hair looks great. The lighting was thoughtful throughout. But I don't play a lot of current games just due to time. So this and DX:MD are the most current titles I've started playing. In any case: I like them even if I notice shortfalls.

I'll get into Metro series later. I'm not sure if they'll be my kind of games since I really didn't like the Stalker series, but I hear Metro is more focused. I'll try them out probably in a few weeks when I have time.
 
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I'll get into Metro series later. I'm not sure if they'll be my kind of games since I really didn't like the Stalker series, but I hear Metro is more focused. I'll try them out probably in a few weeks when I have time.

Metro is a more linear experience with good storytelling, (if a bit common) somewhat interesting characters, and the shooting (while not as tight as some games) is still very good. They're not terribly deep games, but I found them enjoyable. I got into STALKER a couple of times, and while I enjoyed the atmosphere a lot, I seemed to lose interest after a while (usually about 4-6 hours in maybe). Based on what you've said above, I'd say that you'll like the Metro games more.
 
Metro is a more linear experience with good storytelling, (if a bit common) somewhat interesting characters, and the shooting (while not as tight as some games) is still very good. They're not terribly deep games, but I found them enjoyable. I got into STALKER a couple of times, and while I enjoyed the atmosphere a lot, I seemed to lose interest after a while (usually about 4-6 hours in maybe). Based on what you've said above, I'd say that you'll like the Metro games more.

I tend to gravitate towards tight narrative experiences. I just don't have time for excessively long sandbox games that are more about being punishing rather than telling a good story and being fun to play.
Based upon what I've played thus far, I'm tempted to also get Rise of the Tomb Raider, but its sale price is closer to $10. I'll wait for the winter sale and see if it dips into $5 territory.
 
I tend to gravitate towards tight narrative experiences. I just don't have time for excessively long sandbox games that are more about being punishing rather than telling a good story and being fun to play.
Based upon what I've played thus far, I'm tempted to also get Rise of the Tomb Raider, but its sale price is closer to $10. I'll wait for the winter sale and see if it dips into $5 territory.

I haven't played a Tomb Raider game in a LONG time. One of them came out in I want to say maybe 2007 or 2008 or something like that, that I got. It was actually quite fun. It still played like the original, but of course had much better visuals at that point. I haven't tried any of the modern ones. I hear mostly good things, but some things do sound kind of annoying about them. I'm actually just not sure I'm into that style of play anymore. I still occasionally like an interesting third person game, but mainly I'm into first person, or 2D indie-type games now. The exceptions being things like Zelda and Mario. Now maybe if they started making them like Heavy Metal FAKK2 again. I liked the sexy-gritty fantasy mixed with tech sort of thing. I'm actually thinking Code Vein looks pretty cool in that sense, but I'm not sure I have time for even a Souls-Lite right now.
 
I haven't played a Tomb Raider game in a LONG time. One of them came out in I want to say maybe 2007 or 2008 or something like that, that I got. It was actually quite fun. It still played like the original, but of course had much better visuals at that point. I haven't tried any of the modern ones. I hear mostly good things, but some things do sound kind of annoying about them. I'm actually just not sure I'm into that style of play anymore. I still occasionally like an interesting third person game, but mainly I'm into first person, or 2D indie-type games now. The exceptions being things like Zelda and Mario. Now maybe if they started making them like Heavy Metal FAKK2 again. I liked the sexy-gritty fantasy mixed with tech sort of thing. I'm actually thinking Code Vein looks pretty cool in that sense, but I'm not sure I have time for even a Souls-Lite right now.

I disliked Tomb Raider when made by Eidos. I was around for the very first one and despised anything with tank controls. It still begs belief for me that any designer/dev thought that they were good or a good idea. Entirely not intuitive. Of course there were a lot of Tomb Raider games and certain mechanics I'm sure got better but I never bothered.

Tomb Raider (2013) plays a lot like Uncharted. There are big showcases throughout the game that are basically there for visual effect. Where you realize that your input really doesn't matter but you get to play the beautiful walking simulator for a bit. As one example, I recently had to climb a radio tower to make a distress call, and the whole climb up multiple tiers was just to show the gorgeous game. And as Lara reached the top, there were rungs missing and she had to struggle to get to the top (bracing on one, standing on the top of one to reach out to reach another rung several rungs up due to missing rungs or whatever), but that literally required no effort in terms of input for the player. Just keep pressing the up key. There's a lot of moments like that in this game. It's all designed to make the player have an experience. For the most part I'd say such showpieces work. It's just my PC gamer and analytical brain that notices these set pieces when they're presented to me. I'm always aware I'm playing a game (or barely a game in this case).

One of my favorite features is that the game has hidden tombs throughout. And they're basically puzzle rooms. They aren't required in order to complete the game, but they are often really well designed, beautiful set pieces. They're generally just one or two room affairs, but the game rewards you for finding them and for accomplishing them (often giving resources or level ups). I'm around 30% through the game (according to the games' completion meter) and I've found 3. Each was unique and fun not to mention graphically gorgeous. There is one that took place in a rock crevice with terrible wind blowing dirt and debris inside a ruined temple and the attention to detail and design was impressive.

There's also a weapon and equipment leveling system. Which seems fine. Although it always makes me feel like it has the reverse effect of the game designs intention. You make me more powerful so the combat becomes easier as I go through the game? Meaning more or less that combat isn't a challenge late in the game but it's much harder earlier (I seriously was annoyed at the wolf combat QTE's that happened early in the game, I'm glad that hasn't really come up again since). That generally is balanced by having harder enemy types later, but so far that hasn't really happened. I do like that the game is generous with resources, keeping the stream of upgrades coming in for those that are willing to explore and pick stuff up. It makes it feel like none of the decisions will be terrible if you pick a "bad" one. As you'll likely get most if not all of them anyway. Which I guess I forgot to mention that you get to choose which upgrades you take and in what order. I'm not 100% certain, but it definitely feels like it's possible to max out every upgrade by the end game or perhaps before then if you're meticulously searching around through maps like me.

If you like beautiful exploration, open maps, puzzles, great design, great visuals, then you'll likely like the game. It still has its downsides like I mentioned before. Which are mainly found in QTE combat events (thankfully there have been less QTEs as the game has progressed). But combat (although somewhat plentiful) isn't the main focus of the game. And some of it can be quite fun, to challenge yourself to see how many you can kill with stealth either close up with take downs or long range with the bow. In any case I can see why the game generally got raves, especially after the long and uneven past of Tomb Raider games.
 
Yeah, I picked up Atom RPG on sale. It's perfect timing (just got bored with another game I've been playing since summer), and the cheapest I've seen it. It's fun so far, feels like I'm playing an expansion pack for Fallout 2.
 
I disliked Tomb Raider when made by Eidos. I was around for the very first one and despised anything with tank controls. It still begs belief for me that any designer/dev thought that they were good or a good idea. Entirely not intuitive. Of course there were a lot of Tomb Raider games and certain mechanics I'm sure got better but I never bothered.

Tomb Raider (2013) plays a lot like Uncharted. There are big showcases throughout the game that are basically there for visual effect. Where you realize that your input really doesn't matter but you get to play the beautiful walking simulator for a bit. As one example, I recently had to climb a radio tower to make a distress call, and the whole climb up multiple tiers was just to show the gorgeous game. And as Lara reached the top, there were rungs missing and she had to struggle to get to the top (bracing on one, standing on the top of one to reach out to reach another rung several rungs up due to missing rungs or whatever), but that literally required no effort in terms of input for the player. Just keep pressing the up key. There's a lot of moments like that in this game. It's all designed to make the player have an experience. For the most part I'd say such showpieces work. It's just my PC gamer and analytical brain that notices these set pieces when they're presented to me. I'm always aware I'm playing a game (or barely a game in this case).

One of my favorite features is that the game has hidden tombs throughout. And they're basically puzzle rooms. They aren't required in order to complete the game, but they are often really well designed, beautiful set pieces. They're generally just one or two room affairs, but the game rewards you for finding them and for accomplishing them (often giving resources or level ups). I'm around 30% through the game (according to the games' completion meter) and I've found 3. Each was unique and fun not to mention graphically gorgeous. There is one that took place in a rock crevice with terrible wind blowing dirt and debris inside a ruined temple and the attention to detail and design was impressive.

There's also a weapon and equipment leveling system. Which seems fine. Although it always makes me feel like it has the reverse effect of the game designs intention. You make me more powerful so the combat becomes easier as I go through the game? Meaning more or less that combat isn't a challenge late in the game but it's much harder earlier (I seriously was annoyed at the wolf combat QTE's that happened early in the game, I'm glad that hasn't really come up again since). That generally is balanced by having harder enemy types later, but so far that hasn't really happened. I do like that the game is generous with resources, keeping the stream of upgrades coming in for those that are willing to explore and pick stuff up. It makes it feel like none of the decisions will be terrible if you pick a "bad" one. As you'll likely get most if not all of them anyway. Which I guess I forgot to mention that you get to choose which upgrades you take and in what order. I'm not 100% certain, but it definitely feels like it's possible to max out every upgrade by the end game or perhaps before then if you're meticulously searching around through maps like me.

If you like beautiful exploration, open maps, puzzles, great design, great visuals, then you'll likely like the game. It still has its downsides like I mentioned before. Which are mainly found in QTE combat events (thankfully there have been less QTEs as the game has progressed). But combat (although somewhat plentiful) isn't the main focus of the game. And some of it can be quite fun, to challenge yourself to see how many you can kill with stealth either close up with take downs or long range with the bow. In any case I can see why the game generally got raves, especially after the long and uneven past of Tomb Raider games.

I also absolutely detest tank controls. There were a few games that I let that slide for in the mid-90s because this sort of game was still fairly new. (unless you go back to something like Alone in the Dark, the Twinsen games or Ecstatica or something) There were some pretty cool games that I hated playing because of these controls. That's why I'm not a Resident Evil fan :D

Wow 2013, for some reason I thought that Tomb Raider game was older. Yeah, I thought that one was ok, but once again still not in my favorite games list. I just felt like it was a decent entry to a series that I thought was long dead at the time. It also felt ok to control from what I remember.

Nice analysis. If I'm ever in a lull, maybe I'll grab these. As it is though, I don't even have time to play some of the games that I consider must-plays, so we'll see. I appreciate the info though.
 
Playing the new Pacific Theater in BFV! The 2 new maps are so much fun to play... actually feels like a WWII game! Absolutely gorgeous maps too with everything maxed and RT on Ultra. :D
 
Nice analysis. If I'm ever in a lull, maybe I'll grab these. As it is though, I don't even have time to play some of the games that I consider must-plays, so we'll see. I appreciate the info though.

2013 is short enough to finish in around 16 hours doing the side content, so it is worth checking out if you're worried about getting yet another game you probably won't finish. I didn't like Rise as much but it was still good. Shadow to me was poorly designed and horribly paced with some awkward control/user interface issues. Not a terrible game but clearly rushed out.
 
Shadow of The Tomb Raider and Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition.

A nice mix of things for a lazy Sunday.
 
Just got a Radeon VII. Maxing out games rocks. I can't wait to finish up Tomb Raider so I can play DX:MD finally with graphics cranked. I was holding off for this kind of upgrade so I could enjoy the increased graphical fidelity.
MD is the game I've been looking forward to playing for years. I don't want to play two games at once, I tend to lose what's going on in game or fluidity of mechanics when I do that.
 
I'm still playing Imperator Rome 1.2. Getting ready to build a new rig, just waiting on mobo now, so I'm holding off on new games until its built. My poor little 1TB SSD is full. Got a 2TB nvme ssd and a 4tb SSD going into the new rig so no more worrying about room for my games. Muhahahaha
 
Finished playing Black Mesa with Xen levels in the beta (still not completely done though)
Death Standing
Modern Warfare (PC)
 
More Wow, division 2, outer worlds, some apex legends, bejeweled 3, and started injustice 2 on the x-box.
 
Helped my younger daughters with a couple of temples on Wind Waker, nearly completed Link Between Worlds, and just barely started Outbuddies on the PC. Our Wii-U gamepad was dying way too often (original battery from WAY back). I swapped out the 1500mAh battery with a 4000mAh. Now we barely have to charge it. What's funny is that I never had that compartment open before. There was tons of space for the larger battery, and it was even shaped for it. Technically they could have put the larger battery in there from day one. With all the Zelda playing lately, the old Wii-U is seeing more use than the Switch at the moment. :D
 
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