I must admit I've never played Hitman but do know the premise of course and I have thought that when looking at the newer versions. Like the later Splinter Cell games. They've tried to make them accessible as they want money from more gamers but it takes something away from it. Having the option to do things "stealth or action" in Splinter Cell surely makes it like any other game and removes the unique appeal? Same with Assassin's Creed; the originals had their issues but they had something unique about them. The later ones are just reskinned "Ubisoft Games" and play no differently to Far Cry, Watch Dogs or whatever else they make.

*ahem* Enough of my gaming soap box. Still going through my gaming slump atm but Niall and I did start a co-op farm on Switch on Stardew Valley yesterday. Pretty good fun. I've had it on PC for a while but only recently got into it and am really enjoying it.

You're absolutely right of course. By cramming in as many different playstyles as possible and making the games accessible to everyone with half a brain, they take away any challenge or USP a game might have. That's why all AAA games these days tend to all be a blur of samish concepts and ideas. I believe that's why something like Elden Ring did so well: it kind of does the opposite despite the AAA polish. It doesn't hold your hand at all, doesn't accomodate the player beyond what is necessary (altho sometimes to an infuriating degree haha) and forces you to get good and respect the game rather than provide you with markers and pointers and scaling to your level so you couldn't possibly ever feel desparate or frustrated. Overcoming things is what breeds skill, and what gives you satisfaction beyond grinding.

I'm still playing Tyrranny because I haven't been home in a while. Still enjoying it a lot though!

You mean Obsidian's Tyranny? that was a great game. Although the rushing really showed in the later parts. I really liked it. Been a while though

yeah, this is the "ultimate edition" tho so let's hope that means they managed to polish up some of the stuff you mentioned. I'm only somewhere in the mid game I think. I like the world building and lore a lot and the gameplay is very decent too. But it's the reactivity and world building that is really the star of the show.

Finished Tyranny which was pretty good but the ending felt a bit abrupt...not so much that it felt rushed, but more that it was a clear "to be continued..." WHich it may very well not be considering the relative lack of success of Obsidian's most recent franchises. I think both Deadfire and Tyranny were well received by critics and fans but didn't have great sales numbers. Sad, because I love their isometric RPGs.

After that I played Desperados 3 and it's so good. It's the another Commandos like from the same studio that made the Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun games, set in the wild west. Absolutely recommended if you're into these kinds of stealth/puzzle games.

Besides my continually returning to Ark and Conan Exiles, I've been playing Terminator: Resistance. The graphics aren't as great as they could be, but the game isn't bad. I finished the main campaign and am playing one of the DLCs currently. It's not world-alteringly awesome or anything, but it's enjoyable. I have a place in my heart for the Terminator, and being able to play in the post-apocalyptic terminator world is kinda cool. Semi-open world with RPG and crafting elements works pretty well.

So yea, that's about it for me. I've still got a huge backlog of games to play, but I'm sure I'm not the only person here with that particular issue.

The Terminator shooter looks pretty good actually I mean at 40 euros it's a bit steep for me right now but I'm sure I'll get around to playing it some day.

I'm actally almost through my backlog! I mean, I did a lot of pruning and hid a lot of games where I told myself "am I really ever gonna play this?") but I also just was a good disciplined boy and didn't just buy or add games just for the sake of it. And the other caveat is that some of the games in my backlog are huge - i'm talking Fallout 4 and Cyberpunk. BUT STILL! I'm getting there, across, all 3 of the stores I use.

I finished Desperados 3 and then took a little break from gaming, then started playing Starbound. I was hoping to get that Terraria kick from it again but honestly, it didn't grab me at all. And the mining felt fidgety as fuck. I tried it for a few hours and bounced off it.

Then I played Dusk instead which I loved. A classic Quake-like shooter, but with modern game design ideas. https://store.steampowered.com/app/519860/DUSK/

Now I'm playing The Case of the Golden Idol, basically a point and click detective game in the vein of Return of the Obra Dinn, and it's been a ton of fun already https://store.steampowered.com/app/1677 ... lden_Idol/

I'm also playing Singularity on my GOG account for some shooting goodness...the time warping store is pretty interesting already so I hope they can keep it up! https://store.steampowered.com/app/42670/Singularity/

What is a backlog? I literally got a category of 'Garbage' that I don't play games from. Well I run them long enough to get cards.

Edit: I do know what a backlog is conceptually. I'm not that stupid

Oh yea, been playing the Long war of the Chosen mod on xcom2.

Lol, for a second I thought this was Derf's Steam library 90% of all games under 'garbage' I mean.

I finished Singularity and it was actually really good for 10+ year old shooter that wasn't that popular or well known. Fun combat, interesting time manipulation/travel mechanics, decent enough story and doesn't overstay its welcome. Definitely recommended.

I started playing Sunset Overdrive but omg, it's pretty terrible. It's like a bunch of nerds tried really hard to be trendy and cool. There's a good chance I'll be uninstalling it and putting it in my crap folder soon (my equivalent to your garbage folder, Peltz, but not quite so large. ). I started playing Control as well on Epic.. it's a good game, but I'm a bit of a completionist and the anchor is kicking my ass to the point where I'm not wanting to play any more. I probably should just move on (it's not even required), but damn... completionism. We'll see. The lore and story is pretty good though. If you can get it cheap, do it.

I got Control for free a while back on Epic, and I liked it at first (the atmosphere and art are great) but then I started getting frustrated with all the back tracking and finding my way around the endless tunnels and hallways of the building you're in...so I stopped a few hours in. Hope you can stomach it better than I did! I probably did miss out on a good game (by all reviews I've seen) but eh, if I'm not feeling it I'm not feeling it.

I tried playing Fallout 4, even modded it for hours, but uninstalled it after a couple of hours. I'll probably write about it in a separate thread.

Now playing Vampyr again which I had put on the shelf for a while. I don't know why but I'm in the right mindset for it now.

Got Control from Epic for free as well a while ago, will keep in mind that it has potential.

Currently playing Gloomhaven, also a freebie from Epic. It's interesting, challenging. And i feel like i'm still somewhere below the learning curve.

Soon I'll be back to being a WoW whore. Well I already am as I got beta for the expansion (with only 3 weeks to go, seems odd but whatever) and I'm in love with it. It's all around dragons, perfect for me.

When I'm not whoring myself out though I'm enjoying Settlement Survival on steam. Think Banished but more in-depth and feels like you can progress faster. It can get quite punishing though; yesterday I was up to around 380 population then food supplies dwindled and now I'm down to under 200. There's trading with npc factions, upgrades via a technology tree and natural disasters to keep you on your toes, all wrapped up in a polygon-style, vibrant package.

Gloomhaven is based on a wildly succesful boardgame, I'd go as far as to say it's considered one of the best boardgames of all time. So if you want to play with your family or friends it's worth looking into buying the physical game too, but I'd recommend against the actual Gloomhaven as it's massive and takes a lot of time to set up and learn. Jaws of the Lion is more streamlined and a lot cheaper.

Lol @ Pev relapsing in her WoW addiction. Once you've tasted it you're inevitably gonna be on the streets again whoring yourself out for WoW coins at some point in your life.