Just thought I could get a discussion thread going. What is everyone playing lately?
I just finished playing Metal Gear Solid Delta, it was great! I decided to play through the series finally after years of watching video essays on the game, and I’m glad I did! I played Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2: Subsistence through emulation (4k HD for the win!) It was a great experience and I can see why the series is so highly venerated. It holds up remarkably well, and the long cut scenes were really enjoyable. I thought it would be annoying, but I actually found myself looking forward to them. Delta was like jumping forward in time 30 years, but still extremely fun. I’m glad they stayed so close to the source material so I could just play the new release instead of booting up Snake Eater through emulation.
Now if I could just play IV without a PS3, that would be awesome. I might have to try emulation on that, but from what I read, the experience isn’t great.
Regardless, now I’m replaying Max Payne 3. This game IS SO FREAKING GOOD. I had forgotten how good it is. The noir narration is just amazing. The gameplay is tight as a snare drum. The art style and visuals are still amazing even when compared to modern games. Rockstar really knocked this game out of the park. I still haven’t played Max Payne 1 or 2, and maybe I should. Also, I found out that one of the bands I’ve recently discovered and have been listening to like crazy, Health, did the score for Max Payne 3. The music is fantastic. If you haven’t played it, I highly recommend giving it a go.
Other than those games, I plan to play through The Last of Us 1 for the first time soon. Not sure how “retro” it is, but I think it is borderline given the original release date and hardware. Looking forward to trying it for the first time. I’ve never had Sony consoles, so I’ve missed out on a ton of first-party Sony games over the years. Trying to make up for that by playing modern PC releases and through emulation.
So yeah, what do ya’ll have going on right now? What do you recommend playing and why?
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I completely forgot I purchased this game like a decade ago. I need to actually go play it.
Finished up “my friend Pedro” a couple of weeks ago (absolutely recommend if you haven’t played it, especially with a high refresh rate screen), played control for a bit (interesting beginning, but the more you play the more confusing/boring I found it), and been revisiting doom eternal since I just upgraded my PC about a month ago. I was planning to play it through with the dlc expansions, then maybe try cyberpunk after. Also been intermittently playing “golf with your friends” when I have game night, pretty fun to play with friends and doesn’t take too much effort.
Hard agree on Control; didn’t dig it at all.
I mean, the graphics were pretty impressive and the beginning premise was interesting, but after 3hrs I just kinda got more bored as the plot isn’t cohesive at all and figuring out where you need to go is actually rather annoying after a bit. I played a bit more than 3hrs because surely it would get better, but it didn’t seem to be so I gave up.
Control was not my piece of cake either, but playing the Ashtray Maze sequence without knowing what I was going for was one of the most exhilarating gaming moments I ever lived.
I can’t stop playing Enter the Gungeon, this is a cry for help. /hj
Also I decided to try Flashback again (Genesis version). This game always seemed really cool but I never progressed far on it since it’s so unlike anything else from the era. Kind of surprising more indies don’t take a crack at this formula.
I’ve never heard of Flashback before. That game looks sick! I’m huge into sci-fi and cyberpunk stuff, so I think that might be right up my alley. Thanks for the suggestion!
Finally playing Silent Hill 2, which is scary as heck. (Try playing it with the sound off and your controller vibration on for a bit.)
Still playing Noita a lot.
Also DMing weekly campaigns on Neverwinter Nights.
Noita
I’ve seen footage from this game in a bunch of different places from the YouTube creators I watch but never knew the name. I might have to check that out. It looks really cool, even if it isn’t a genre I typically get into.
I find it to be great fun.
Is it as prohibitively difficult as I’ve heard it is?
Oh, there are also some helpful mods now.
There is some difficulty, yes, but you can read the guides on Steam to get some help in mitigating that. I’ve died hundreds of times playing it, but some of them are legit funny, like the time I used a wand to summon a black hole, not considering that it might suck my wizard in too.
Megabonk and Balatro. And I’ve just finished Max Payne 3! Really liked it!
I find it funny how I seemingly randomly decide to play an old game and then find out a bunch of others picked it up around the same time as me. I wonder why that is? Maybe we all got inspired by watching the same video that included a clip or something. Who knows?
But yeah, I’m really enjoying it too. This is my second playthrough. I beat it once a long time ago when I bought it, but don’t remember much about it. I’m trying to collect all the golden gun parts on this playthrough. I have like 5 or 6 of the guns done. I currently at the escort part right after the bus escape.
The Amiga version of Alien Breed 2. Bitch is hard as nails in a coffin. In comparison the Alien Breed trilogy on PC on hardest difficulty is a walk in the park.
- A Plague’s Tale: Innocence
- Blade Runner
- Freedom Fighters and trying hard to make Dominatrix work to play SiN Gold again.
I’m playing Chrono Trigger on my Miyoo Mini and I’m planning to finish it and play Mother 3 (since I finished Earthbound some time ago and really loved it). Also honorable mention when I need a quick time kill: Catrap (GB) and Apotris
I absolutely do recommend playing Earthbound if you still haven’t because this really is a story with a soul and I’m astonished that I haven’t heard about it before. Also btw this game has an S-tier manual, google it.
Heck yeah I’ll check it out!
I keep thinking about picking up one of those small emulation devices but I keep coming back to the same thing… My phone is probably just as powerful and I already own it. It’s a little annoying to have to have a controller to play, though.
I have all my emulators up to ps2 on my phone and they run great in high resolution. I’m struggling to find a need for one of those aside from “I want it.” Lol
Yeah, I also had my phone emulation phase but it kinda sucked having to lug around a controller, searching for it in my bag, turning on, connecting via BT - that took a lot of time and eventually I got kinda lazy and stopped doing it. Plus the distractions of my phone (nothing sucks more than getting a message from boss in the middle of the game) and fast draining of charge.
But you do you man, I’m happy that it’s working for you! Kinda even jealous for ps2, my miyoo can only emulate anything up to ps1. And shooters are not great on it. Tried Quake 2, playable but not super comfy.
By the way, reason like “I want it” is valid too, miyoos are really cheap, I remember thinking to myself “worth a shot, as long as I won’t fall into a rabbit hole of modding it or collecting dozens of other emulators” - and I didn’t. Thx for answering btw, it’s great seeing folks with different experience. What are your favorite games apart from Max Payne?
You’re right. “I want it” is completely valid. If I had a bit more disposable income to play with I think I’d probably go ahead and bite the bullet.
I wouldn’t call Max Payne one of my “favorite” games, more that its a really good game that I’m currently discovering just how good it is. My favorite games are Cyberpunk 2077… Probably have like 500 hours in that. Had it since launch. By far my favorite “world” I’ve ever been immersed in. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has been living rent-free in my head for months. That was a masterpiece. I spend 75% of my gaming time playing race sims, though. I’ve been going hard on Le Mans Ultimate lately. It’s so good! I want a race sim rig so bad. It’s the one thing I’ve wanted for years that I haven’t been able to get a chance to get. Hard to drop 2g’s on a peripheral.
Beyond that, more retro… Donkey Kong Country, Diddy Kong Racing, The Typing of the Dead (God I love this one. So glad RetroArch exists otherwise I would have never got to experience it)
Thx for recommendations! I’m also a biiiig fan of Expedition 33 btw, it’s so good!
I haven’t played anything this year.
Well aside from like the sort of mobile games that ads sometimes have before you can close them.
I’m not sure if it’s depression or a lack of a good GPU. Still running my 1060.
I finally started Roboquest last week. After getting my ass handed to me nonstop on standard difficulty and realizing grinding like that would take forever, I went with Discovery (super easy) to unlock stuff faster. It’s a pretty fun game, though not retro by any measure (EA started back in 2020)
I might also bite the bullet and try to finish Dungeons and Dragons: Shadow Sorcerer. I managed to successfully finish the two previous Silver Box DnD games (they really fucking suck), but this 3rd game throws so much shit to fuck your progress that ragequitting seems like the only correct option. As to why bother, it makes for a good conversation topic with RPG players and aspiring game devs
I’m playing through hollow Knight for the first time! I have always enjoyed Metroid and most of Castlevania, and with the silk song hype I felt it was time. I have no idea how far along I am, I don’t suspect very far based on how full my inventory screen is. And I’m using the strategy of “re explore old areas once you learn a new move”, which is working okay, but I’m getting a little annoyed by how much back tracking I’m doing. I want to find the map for the jellyfish area, but I can’t get past this black barrier.
There are fun optional platforming areas that remind me of Celeste. Now if I only I had unlimited tries like she did. And the boss battles are challenging and punishing in a way that reminds me of elden ring - everyone has a pattern, and they will hurt you if you are too greedy with your attacks.
Overall I recommend it if you enjoy Metroidvanias
balaro, hunnie pop, breath of the wild, mario kart.
trying to get everything off my computer so I can install linux. Suggestions for Debian based , easy install, rock solid distros are welcome here :
Playing Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon on 3DS. Cute but not loving it as much as the original. Not sure why.
Hey friend, cheers for the thread. I’m strangely happy and relieved to have found something chill enough to engage with in the midst of all the crazy political drama around the place.
I’m glad you’re enjoying Max Payne 3. I liked it too, though It had to grow on me, especially after having played MP1 and MP2. The first one especially blew me away even when I played it for the first time back in 2008 - its combination of beautiful, prosaic noir writing, the modern incorporation of Norse mythology, and innovative (for the time) gameplay, among other traits, continues to make it stand out amongst the rest.
- If you get to play it, I’d highly recommend checking out the PCGamingWiki page for the fixes to help it work better in general and on modern systems.
Currently, I’m playing RoboCop: Rogue City and Schedule I. Playing on both sides of the law by the looks of it, haha.
- Rogue City is a great experience as far as faithfully adapting the dystopian, mega-corporatised, hyper-violent world of RoboCop to the gaming screen;
- Schedule I has you build a drug empire through a surprisingly addictive (heh) gameplay loop of producing and distributing different types of drugs (I found myself staying up til 4AM while crafting all-new marijuana strains with kickass names like the Ninja Witch).
I’ve also been revisiting old PS2 games on PCSX2 emulator. Currently replaying:
- WWE games - Here Comes the Pain, and SvR’06/07 (peak of the franchise, imo)
- Dog’s Life - the adorable yet disturbing, fantastically scored, janky GTA-flavoured canine adventure still entertains.
Glad to have you here to chat with us! I tried to play RoboCop twice now, but couldn’t get into it the way I had hoped. It seemed like a really well-made game, but I think that either I wasn’t in the right headspace for it at the time or maybe it’s just not quite what I’m looking for. It’s one of those games I feel like I should like, but just don’t yet.
I’m getting so many recommendations to go back and play Max Payne 1 & 2 that I’m going to prioritize them in my next round of games.
As for wrestling games, the two I owned were WCW-NWO Revenge (N64) and WWF Warzone. Both were interesting and I still go back and play them every once in a while through emulation. I really like the mechanics for WCW-NWO Revenge. It’s the best implementation of grapple controls I’ve played in a wrestling game. The rest is a bit rough around the edges, though.
Thanks! Yeah, totally understandable about RoboCop RC - it isn’t without its flaws and is certainly rough around the edges, one would have to be a big fan of the franchise to forgive all the bugs. Thanks to the mods that bring back the original movie SFX, the game feels much more immersive. A major hook to play it for me is Peter Weller returning to voice Robo, if anything I’ll try to finish it for that reason alone.
I hope to try out that WCW-nWo Revenge game, sounds interesting. My other one I’d like to try would be WWF No Mercy, it’s still touted as the crème de la crème of wrestling games and there’s a loyal and active modding community for it to this day, amazingly.
Wow, I didn’t know about all that for RoboCop. If I’m honest, I’ve never actually watched the movies. I know… I know. I should have by now. Especially considering I’m a big fan of dystopian cyberpunk type stuff. Maybe after I give it a watch I’ll be more interested in the game.
I’ve heard about No Mercy being the king of the hill, but I haven’t tried it either. Warzone was… not great. lol. I much preferred WCW-NWO Revenge of the two. Those are the only two I owned back in the day, so I mainly boot them up for nostalgia purposes.
When you say No Mercy has a modding community, are you talking about a PC release of some sort or romhacks?
(better late than never 😁)
I’m not sure on the details (am yet to delve into it proper), but from what I can spot it is 64-based so looks like it’s through an emulator and with asset/texture packs. Likely similar to PCSX2’s texture mods
I’ll have to look into the mods, I bought RoboCop RC on deep sale this summer but haven’t gotten around to it yet. Despite being a somewhat kinky AA game it looked cool and seem to have gotten quite good reviews so I’m looking forward to it.
Azure Dreams, PS1 and GBC, I was really surprised how good both versions were when deciding which to play so I’m playing both.
