Games We've Recently Played (And Wot We Fink)

[Louie]

Magicite

A fun little rogue-like platformer with basic resource gathering and crafting. There's a ticking clock on each level (after a while a near-unbeatable floating head thing comes looking to one-shot you), which adds a sense of urgency. This game is unapologetically hard, but I'm enjoying learning from my mistakes. Graphically, it's a very basic pixel art affair, which suffices.  The controls are tight. and I suspect the many unlockable items and characters will keep me hooked for some time.

7.5/10

[Rai]

I gave dragon age: origins a try, with steam sales and all.

ooh boy, what a bloody disappointment. Maybe I have grown older, but I couldn't stand it the moment I heard the 'ethereal gibberish female vocals' song when I started the game. And from that, it was a snoozefest with boring combat, boring Englyshe language (Morrigan being the worst offender. Too bad there was no "double dare her to say "tis" and if she does, stab her in the eye with a blunt stick" option) and a generic fantasy setting that is played completely straight-faced, with very little sense of fun or even adventure. Aff. I don't think I will ever finish it.

5/10

I think I'll just replay Baldur's Gate instead.

[amysrevenge]

I think I'll just replay Baldur's Gate instead.

That's what's running on my phone this second, as I have lunch.

[Gerbig]

Fallout 3

10/10

It is honestly one of the best games ive played. There is so much to do, see and explore outside of the main questline, I could play this game 100 times and still have stuff to see and explore. Sandbox at its best.

[MikeHz]

Fallout 3

10/10

It is honestly one of the best games ive played. There is so much to do, see and explore outside of the main questline, I could play this game 100 times and still have stuff to see and explore. Sandbox at its best.

Love that game. I have ivested many hours in it, and have yet to finish all the missions.

[Bones2U]

My Original was Wasteland... loved the 80s and the introduction to computer gaming back then has made me the dork I am now... With the release of Wasteland 2 this year, my 80s geek is out in full force

This also goes along with the original Fallout and Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics with always be my favorite go-to games to replay

[PANTS!]

I frequently teplay Wasteland.  Love that game so much my heart explodes like a blood sausage.

[petrolpetal]

My dad gave me a set of Hnefatafel for Christmas. What a fantastic 2 person board game! Loving it and addicted. It's all about strategy and keeping you eye on the games objectives. It's an ancient Viking game,I believe.

He also made our family a set of Morabaraba, an old African 2 player game.Easy to learn - even for young kids - but strategic and engaging. The rules are published on the internet. Both games are really easy to make : you just need masonite or cardboard and buttons!

Also been playing Settlers of Catan - great game too. Would not be easy to make though!

[SnarlPatrick]

I played "Lords of the Fallen", a genuinely difficult hack and slash rpg in the style of Dark Souls, but with a much more PC friendly interface and advanced graphics. It is distinguished by a very restrictive energy system. You cannot sustain an attack indefinitely, or for heavy weapons, even for more than 1-2 swings. Heavy Armour and weaponry is genuinely cumbersome and slow, while light armor will genuinely not protect you well and give you very little room to fuck up. You will die, dozens and dozens of times requires actual learning of combat system and adaptation to seemingly impossible conditions.  Long campaign with many unique bosses and enemy types.  If anyone is interested in a more challenging action/rpg, this is worth picking up. I can see why someone might find it frustrating though.

[Harry Black]

Im replaying Majoras Mask as I only borrowed it for a few weeks years ago and never got to the end.
Im emulating so handy saves are a godsent, sure I COULD traipse through the same things over and over everytime I die but I really dont want to!
I forgot how much is on offer in this game amd the depth of the story! I simultaneously cant stop spending all my free time playing and dont want to ever finish.

[Rai]

Finished AC4 the Black Flag recently. It was surprisingly fun for an AC game, with the pirating and all, though it hit diminishing returns after a while. Also, the plot was terribly paced and it felt a bit like KOTOR 2, as if huge amount of content were cut for some reason. There was no actual ending, the game was just over after some point, with all major loose ends tied up in the last five minutes, completely out of the blue.

Now I'm playing borderlands 2 and replaying New Vegas.

[Unlimited]

Rai if you like Black Flag then you might like Watch Dogs, its also by Ubisoft. It is basically AC2 mixed with GTA4 and you can hack things with your phone. Pretty good story line but I am just sitting there the whole time wishing and hoping they will reference AC lore and timeline, and they sort of do. But I read after googling from the CEO that the references are just easter eggs not actually hints at them being in the same world.

Banished is fun if you want to waste time making villagers happy.

[starnado]

Im replaying Majoras Mask as I only borrowed it for a few weeks years ago and never got to the end.
Im emulating so handy saves are a godsent, sure I COULD traipse through the same things over and over everytime I die but I really dont want to!
I forgot how much is on offer in this game amd the depth of the story! I simultaneously cant stop spending all my free time playing and dont want to ever finish.

I recently replayed Windwaker with the boy (so much goodness) and we are now replaying Skyward Sword. He got a new copy for his birthday after scratching the old one. I have Majoras Mask on the virtual console. The moon freaks out my youngest child though.

We also got him Disney Infinity. Despite the beautifully made models, the gameplay just hasn't grabbed us. To be honest, it has hardly been played. It seems like Epic Mickey - all mouth and no trousers. If you know what I mean.

[wastrel]

I bought Anno 2070 forever ago, and never really played it.  Got into it over the weekend and it is quite fun.

[Louie]

Dying Light. The story is bog standard (although the much better production values make it a lot easier to suit through than predecessor Dead Island's abortion of a yarn), but I found the game incredibly fun to play. Once you master the controls you parkours around town like the energizer bunny, which never lost its appeal, even some 30 hours into the game. The combat has its quirks, but feels meaty and challenging. There are plenty of abilities, weapons etc. to unlock to maintain a satisfying feeling of progression. When you start out, even a solitary zombie takes some time to put down. By the end, you're mowing them down by the dozen, but if you get swamped and aren't careful, you'll still die. Luckily the checkpoint system is quite forgiving.

What I like best about this game is the emergent gameplay. Dying Light's sandbox is a compelling one. You feel like a total badass when you decapitate a bunch of zombies with a series of well-trained slashes of your katana and then dropkick another one, causing it to go flying and impale itself and one of its mates on a set of wall-mounted spikes. Mmm, graphic violence.

8.5/10