Discussion What's your favourite video game you've been playing?

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NFS games are meant to be played with a joystick; nothing more. Full arcade, but fun.

For a more proper driving experience than blends arcade and sim quite well I'd say it's better to lean towards GRID Autosport (including 1 and 2), Project Cars (1 and 2 mainly) and maybe others I can't remember right now. And proper sim is Assetto Corsa and iRacing all the way. Any of these games without a proper racing wheel and setup are boring to normies.

Cheers!
Well I managed to get through all the ones prior to the SIMs you mentioned fine on keyboard, as well as pretty much every DiRT title since the first. It just depends how good/diligent the devs are at using algorithm filters to make a hold of the steer keys convert to a smoothly arced turn.

Hell, I even did a comparison video with instructions in the description on how to make the cars steer better in GRID 2 on keyboard with a simple file edit. These days though, EA and even Slightly Mad are getting cheap and not supporting keyboard as well. CodeMasters definitely IS though, so they get props from me for that.


Most people that race on gamepads, it's all they know, They usually haven't got a clue how to race on keyboard or make tweaks. That's why I take the "This or that game was meant to be played on gamepad" with a grain of salt, because not every dev makes their control scheme the same, and not every player grew up on gamepads. Sure, the devs are pretty much forced to support gamepads or watch their sales stagnate because so many people play on them, but it's not like they're far superior.

There was a guy whom regularly posted his race videos on the NFS Run forum. He played on keyboard and could ace very time trial in the game on hardest mode with no nitro boost. I'm not implying it's easy, you definitely have to have super precise timing to do something like that, but his times were better than anyone I've seen play the game on gamepad OR wheel.

One thing that I always prefer about keyboards is that they have instant response, since they're digital. You combine that with good filters to arc a cornering line with a hold of a key, and it's the best of both worlds if you know what to do with it. You just have to get used to mixing taps with holds. When I've tried racing on gamepads, I'm usually waiting for the car to react to my steering input, vs being instantaneous on keyboard, it's a huge difference.
 
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iTRiP

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A custom input selection on the keyboard in NFS heat left me with a very well playable game from start to in the end, It would have been even better if there where more terrain types and weather effects like lightning and snow as well as the already present rain, but all said its good enough to keep one entertained for quite a while, so back to topic its one of the favored games.
 
Took a break from Ghostrunner when trying to attempt Dharma City, the first outdoor level, with a no death result. The game started crashing frequently on that level for me, and I certainly hope it doesn't carry over into other levels, because prior to that I had zero crashes.

Turns out that break was time well spent, as I picked up Days Gone, which is now available on PC. It's been so long since it launched on PS that I had forgotten all about it. I do remember first thinking that was a PS exclusive, and vaguely recall someone telling me it would come out on PC, but I only remembered that after actually seeing it release on PC. So for well over a year it's been off my radar.

Days Gone is a pretty decent zombie game built on UE4, and it looks good and runs quite well. What I like about it is there's a lot of stealth, which is plenty doable, yet challenging if you don't pay attention to where the AI are and where traps are laid. At the same time there are moments, like when burning zombie nests, or escaping a horde on your bike, that all hell can break loose. If a horde is after you and you're on foot, chances are you'll be toast even on Normal difficulty mode unless you have buildings to cleverly enter/exit to lose line of sight of them. I once had my bike shot out from under me while escaping on a trail by a sniper hiding in a nearby tree. These encounters seem to be done by looters. as once he shoots you or your bike, two others come running on foot with melee weapons. As it turned out, my bike was rendered at 0% condition, and unrepairable (which you can do in the field with scrap), so I had to load a prior checkpoint.

I also like the scavenging, crafting, and upgrading system. At first I didn't like the "Trust" system, whereby you have to do jobs for camps and turn in items you find to gain trust levels high enough to buy their better gear. There's also weapon lockers in your safehouse (and any camp you clear) that link together, but you can only store the ones you buy or are given as rewards for missions. Both of these things seem more understandable to me now, as it IS an action/stealth survival type game, and as you progress, these things become available when you need them. Prior to that, early in the game, you can easily get by with weapons you find here and there.

There is also regular and zombie wildlife to deal with as well. Quite often I encounter wolves here and there, and they follow you even if on bike. I have killed several, but I wouldn't call it a piece of cake. A few times I have avoided stopping at a flashing ? that designates a new location to discover because wolves are present. I would be OK with this if that ? were then placed on the map, but it isn't. I'm hoping there's a skill to unlock that allows that. At the end of my last session, I encountered a much larger black wolf (others are grey) called a "Runner", that appears to be a zombie wolf. They are very fast and can catch you even on your bike. Fortunately I had just upgraded most components on the bike, including the engine and installing nitro, so after dying twice from that wolf, I was able to escape it with nitro. It's something that wasn't easy to do because I was on a winding trail, and they bind nitro to Left Alt. I plan on rebinding it, but there are TONS of key binds in this game, and it takes careful examination to avoid overlapping them.

As it takes place in Oregon, home of the dev team itself in Bend Oregon, much of the game is wooded terrain with trails. You play as a biker on a chopper, so at times it feels a bit odd to be riding on winding trails with such a long wheelbase bike with such relaxed fork angle and steering. The bike itself is kinda cool though. You can strap mission items you pick up on the back of it, equip it with saddlebags to carry extra ammo, and it even serves as a mobile save location when near it. The other places to save are bunks at the safehouse and camps you clear. As I used to be a mt biker, and have done rides in Bend and elsewhere in Oregon, I can really relate to the game environment, which I think they did very accurately to the feel of the locale.

The dev team, Bend Studio, I thought were a new team, but it turns out they have over 20 years experience, and are the developers of Syphon Filter, a PS exclusive that had several installments between 1999 and 2007. It's also nice to see they can pull off a PC port as well as they have, after starting out as a console developer. About the only minor tech problems I've had so far are every now and then, like on a steep section of terrain in the forest, NPCs will struggle to get up it, even though it's part of their patrol route. Some of them inch their way through it, while one other just kept walking in place. There was also one particular long cutscene that near the end of it froze video wise, but kept playing audio. It was just a flashback scene for story impact, and from the sound I could hear, I knew to hit Enter to "Continue" a few times, as it was indicating the end of that mission. I had to minimize the game and restart it due to the video having froze, but it saved the progress properly, and picked up where it was supposed to.

Bend Studio has a pretty cool website showcasing the area they're located in, as well as the many outdoor activities their team gets into. They have a philosophy of work in tech, but live analog, that seems like it keeps them very happy. I can believe this, because on big mt bike ride events I've done in that area, the locals I met there are very adventurous outdoor types that can go on and on for hours at the campfire about all the interesting and unusual outdoor activities they take part in.

There's a Bloomberg rumor that Sony supposedly canceled a planned sequel to Days Gone, but so far all I've found to verify that is Sony rejecting a dev proposal for a coop design for Days Gone 2, and Bend Studio working on another game, which is said to be a full remaster of The Last of Us. I've also seen a petition to make Days Gone 2 with 114,000 signatures, so it's hard to believe this rumor, especially since Sony haven't announced it officially. I have to say though, if there were a choice between Days Gone 2 and a remake for The Last of Us coming to PC, I'd take the latter. Not saying that will happen, but it seems like an eventual possibility now that they've brought Days Gone to PC.

 
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I haven't played anything new in a bit. Just playing State of Decay 2 while I was waiting on Mass Effect Legendary edition to drop. I just finished ME1 and started ME2. They did a really good job of updating Mass Effect. It still 'feels' like an older game but the graphics are much, much better and more inline with ME3. ME2 also seems to have gotten the same and it looks great.
 
I haven't played anything new in a bit. Just playing State of Decay 2 while I was waiting on Mass Effect Legendary edition to drop. I just finished ME1 and started ME2. They did a really good job of updating Mass Effect. It still 'feels' like an older game but the graphics are much, much better and more inline with ME3. ME2 also seems to have gotten the same and it looks great.
I assume you're referring to ME1 and 2 PC versions? I ask because I've yet to be able to find any ME Legendary video comparisons for PC, just console. Even Digital Foundry only shows old gen vs new gen console versions, and they're usually pretty thorough.

If it IS the PC versions you're referring to, do you know of a site you can link me to that has a decent video comparison of that version? I have to be at least a bit skeptical about PC remasters, as quite often by far they benefit consoles more than PC.
 
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Yes on PC and I've played the trilogy 7 or 8 times now since it released ( favorite series ). They did a very good job on ME1.
 
I finished Yakuza 3 since the last time I posted. There were more twists in this game's story than any of the previous ones. I liked it a lot and thought it was one of the more memorable Yakuza games for some odd reason lol. Even more memorable than Kiwami 1 or 2.

I'm still playing Shadowman Remastered. Not gonna lie, I wanted to backlog it and play something else because I started to get really confused. Googling barely helped as it just gave me lots of text walkthroughs from 1999. Not many people have played this game. I had to dig for walkthroughs on Youtube to get someone to hold my hand lol. I've been following one walkthrough almost identically as the guy playing it so that I don't get lost. I don't know why but playing it this way just seems more exciting to me for some reason. There is a LOT of backtracking in this game though. Being able to access new terrains as we get more powerful is what makes it feel worth it.

I also started playing Cuphead. I had tried it back when it released but I really sucked at it. I was also playing it on a keyboard instead of a controller. This time around, I'm playing it on a controller and the game has clicked with me. I'm at the third map right now. I've beaten 14 bosses so far and each one felt super satisfying. I am definitely going all the way this time.

I know about Days Gone for PC. I don't know just when I'll pick it up. Reviews pointed to being okay to good. It's also a long game so I don't know if I want to play a big game right now.

Same goes for Mass Effect. I played the trilogy back in 2016 (?) I think. I was updating stuff about my playthrough in this thread at the time. It's still very fresh in my memory and so I don't want to replay it soon.
 
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I was looking at Days Gone myself. Reviews seem mixed. I didn't buy it yet.

One thing that keeps Mass Effect fresh for me is the different voice actors for the male and female Shepard. The games are obviously still the same but the different actors bring a different feel. I'm about 3/4 the way through ME2 in the remaster.

I just started the Heroes of the Inner Sphere DLC for Mechwarrior 5 Mercenaries. It's a fun game but it's no 10/10 or anything. The DLC seems to be pretty good so far and to have improved the game overall. It sure got delayed long enough.
 
I was looking at Days Gone myself. Reviews seem mixed. I didn't buy it yet.
If you're talking about reviews from review sites, I wouldn't put too much stock in them. It's got a Very Positive review status on Steam, which is pretty much the only source to get the PC version from.

Here's a great article that puts the reviews in perspective.

It's also selling quite well on PC, better than it did on console, and the petition for Sony to greenlight a Days Gone 2 sequel now has over 118,000 signatures. https://www.change.org/p/sony-get-sony-playstation-to-approve-days-gone-2

I imagine if a sequel IS eventually approved, it will likely come to PC as well. They're putting as lot of love into the PC version. It's not only one of the most polished console ports I've played in some time, they've already released a few updates, the last two fix mouse related problems and improve stability
 
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Did you play it?
Me? Did I play Days Gone? Heck yeah, it's been the only game I've been playing since it launched a little over a week ago. I've now finished the campaign, and cleared all the hordes that are added at end game. It had an intriguing cliff hanger ending regarding the progression of the virus, so a sequel would fit nicely. They talk about Reno a few times in the story, so it's possible I imagine that the sequel might take place there, if there IS one. Reno itself is mostly desert-like, but it has a good variety of terrain and climates surrounding it.

This game is like no other zombie game I've ever played. I suppose due to the nature of the zombies, you could say it's a bit similar to World War Z, but that would do it a great injustice. WWZ felt like a poorly made L4D clone to me. Days Gone is far more story driven, has far more variety to it's gameplay and game environment, and it can literally effectively cover the wide spread between total stealth, and total chaos. You have so many weapons, tools, skills, and environmental features that you can literally play it any way you want.

And the nice thing is, it's a good blend of linear and open world. You're free to roam the game world, but you don't have to search endlessly for NPCs to talk to to start missions. They tend to pop up via being radioed by camp leaders. Right now I'm experimenting with New Game+ on Hard II. There's TONS of difficulty modes, Easy, Normal, Hard, Hard II, Survival, Survival II, and Survival+, which is a New Game+ mode for Survival that is the most brutal.

So far on Hard II, I've noticed you cannot equip a suppressor on pistols, but you can on long weapons. You also cannot mark enemies with the binocs, but they DO still highlight (even through objects) in Survival Vision when you have all skills unlocked. I have to say though, with access to all weapons, skills, and full Stamina, Health, and Focus, which is 350% at max, it feels too easy, even on Hard II. Then again, I'm only at the beginning of the game, and have yet to face tougher enemies. I have taken out a small horde or two already though, and even with less than ideal tactics (running and shooting vs tossing Molotovs/explosives from cover), it still feels a bit too easy.

So I may end up starting a fresh game on Hard II, and go through building up all my weapons, skills, etc. About the only thing you have to unlock in New Game+ is defogging the map again, which is done by taking down certain camps, finding their bunker, and locating the map in it. Truth be told I kind of miss clearing NERO checkpoints to get those NERO injectors that buff your stamina, health, or focus.

Bottom line is, if you like Zombie games, this is a must play for sure. I'd go as far to say if you are hoping for a sequel as well, consider buying it before it drops to bargain bin prices, because that decision will no doubt have a lot to do with how well the PC version does sales wise. ;)
 
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Cool. Exactly what I was looking for and yeah I love zombie games. Well good open world zombie games. I don't like horde clearing wave games like WWZ and L4D very much. I'll have to pick it up soon.
 
played through another round of Cyberpunk 2077 as a Corpo character.
finished everything except the very last melee Beat On Da Brat mission,
~90hrs vs the 130+hrs of my original run through.
definitely one of the funnest games i've seen in quite a few years.

also recently started Elex again, never got more than a few hours into it initially.
is a large world with a lot of characters and things to interact with but the gameplay really feels dated and awkward in a lot of instances.
i may stick with it though and see if it improves as the story develops.

got Biomutant this week.
very fun game. took a bit of figuring to get the keyboard & mouse controls setup good, but plays pretty smooth.
looking forward to getting more into it.

played some Necromunda: Hired Gun at a friend's.
has a pretty cool look & feel running and gunning much like Doom. these games just get very boring very quickly to me.
seems the Warhammer franchise has really been putting out a lot of titles. Chaosbane is a lot of fun.
 
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I'll play Cyberpunk again after they roll out the DLCs. Absolutely enjoyed the first time.
 
Cool. Exactly what I was looking for and yeah I love zombie games. Well good open world zombie games. I don't like horde clearing wave games like WWZ and L4D very much. I'll have to pick it up soon.
Just make sure you put a lot of emphasis on building up your stamina with those injectors, as it makes escaping attacks much easier. I also like to park my bike concealed in bushes when near a horde, then save at the bike, which makes escapes easy.

Keep in mind L4D and WWZ are pretty much linear style games where you are forced to deal with waves. In Days Gone, you can actually take down hordes with stealth if you pick a good concealed spot to toss attractors, explosives, and Molotovs from.

Hell, I've even drawn off a dozen or two just running around huge rock structures, through buildings, etc, then pausing to turn around and mow them down with the RPD once I've got them in a choke point. Usually the rest slowly migrate back to where they were gathered. If you combine this with going back to save at the bike after taking out a portion of them, you're never going to have to repeat huge, hard chunks of game progress.

It's only out of control if you let it become so. The only time you'd be faced with a huge wave of them all at once is if you make the mistake of running away on open ground, and that's easily avoidable. That isn't to say you won't die from a swarm of them several times while learning how to play it, but trust me, once you get to horde killing, you'll have some very nice weapons and have learned how to use the many environmental features against them.

My only worry is if a sequel is greenlighted, it could possibly be a coop game. A coop style sequel was already pitched to Sony by one of the devs, and rejected, The reason was said to be more due to less than expected sales though.
 
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Just make sure you put a lot of emphasis on building up your stamina with those injectors, as it makes escaping attacks much easier. I also like to park my bike concealed in bushes when near a horde, then save at the bike, which makes escapes easy.

Keep in mind L4D and WWZ are pretty much linear style games where you are forced to deal with waves. In Days Gone, you can actually take down hordes with stealth if you pick a good concealed spot to toss attractors, explosives, and Molotovs from.

Hell, I've even drawn off a dozen or two just running around huge rock structures, through buildings, etc, then pausing to turn around and mow them down with the RPD once I've got them in a choke point. Usually the rest slowly migrate back to where they were gathered. If you combine this with going back to save at the bike after taking out a portion of them, you're never going to have to repeat huge, hard chunks of game progress.

It's only out of control if you let it become so. The only time you'd be faced with a huge wave of them all at once is if you make the mistake of running away on open ground, and that's easily avoidable. That isn't to say you won't die from a swarm of them several times while learning how to play it, but trust me, once you get to horde killing, you'll have some very nice weapons and have learned how to use the many environmental features against them.

My only worry is if a sequel is greenlighted, it could possibly be a coop game. A coop style sequel was already pitched to Sony by one of the devs, and rejected, The reason was said to be more due to less than expected sales though.

I grabbed it on Epic. I had a $10 coupon. And of course now I have another one from buying this. Steam needs to step up their game. :D
 
I finished Cuphead. What an incredibly charming and difficult game. Really happy that I decided to go back and finish it.

Still playing Shadowman Remastered. I caught up with the guy who was doing the walkthroughs that I was religiously following. I'll probably wait till he puts out the next part before I jump into it again.

I got Days Gone as well. I played like 4 hours so far, I think. You know what? The reviews are definitely something you should ignore for this game. It got way too much flak. I concur, @Frag Maniac, we should definitely be looking more at steam reviews for games like this rather than critics. It reminds me so much of Ryse: Son of Rome. That game got way too low of a score from most review outlets and yet after I played it, I was pleasantly suprised. I was bewildered at the low scores it got.
For Days Gone, I watched SkillUp's review on youtube and I very much agree with most of what he said.
It's true, I'm only at the very start of the game but it just kept pulling me in without ever feeling bored at all. The writing, voice and cutscenes feel off for me and that's the only gripe so far. The gameplay, riding the bike and the graphics are just great. The PC port is fantastic too.
 
I finished Cuphead. What an incredibly charming and difficult game. Really happy that I decided to go back and finish it.

Still playing Shadowman Remastered. I caught up with the guy who was doing the walkthroughs that I was religiously following. I'll probably wait till he puts out the next part before I jump into it again.

I got Days Gone as well. I played like 4 hours so far, I think. You know what? The reviews are definitely something you should ignore for this game. It got way too much flak. I concur, @Frag Maniac, we should definitely be looking more at steam reviews for games like this rather than critics. It reminds me so much of Ryse: Son of Rome. That game got way too low of a score from most review outlets and yet after I played it, I was pleasantly suprised. I was bewildered at the low scores it got.
For Days Gone, I watched SkillUp's review on youtube and I very much agree with most of what he said.
It's true, I'm only at the very start of the game but it just kept pulling me in without ever feeling bored at all. The writing, voice and cutscenes feel off for me and that's the only gripe so far. The gameplay, riding the bike and the graphics are just great. The PC port is fantastic too.
For me, it was Marc Thomas' review at davescomputertips.com that put things in perspective.


Curious as to what specifically you didn't like about the writing, voicing, and cutscenes? Those all get pretty high praise from most players.
 
Curious as to what specifically you didn't like about the writing, voicing, and cutscenes? Those all get pretty high praise from most players.
The writing just hasn't pulled me in yet. It's all still early so my opinions will likely change in time. The voice feels all over the place, you know? Deacon has a good voice actor but his lines or the tone he speaks them at just don't seem to match with what his character is doing in the game. For example, while riding a bike he suddenly starts screaming his dialog.
The cutscenes just feel so off for me. There's always a fade to black transition and it seems to be missing continuity over what happened in just the previous scene. I felt awkwardness during some of the cutscenes even downright started laughing lol. Maybe I'm just spoiled from games like Last of Us where cinematic cutscenes are just so well done, IMO.

In the end, none of this really matters much as I am really enjoying the game. Maybe I'll grow to like it in a few more hours.
 
The writing just hasn't pulled me in yet. It's all still early so my opinions will likely change in time. The voice feels all over the place, you know? Deacon has a good voice actor but his lines or the tone he speaks them at just don't seem to match with what his character is doing in the game. For example, while riding a bike he suddenly starts screaming his dialog.
The cutscenes just feel so off for me. There's always a fade to black transition and it seems to be missing continuity over what happened in just the previous scene. I felt awkwardness during some of the cutscenes even downright started laughing lol. Maybe I'm just spoiled from games like Last of Us where cinematic cutscenes are just so well done, IMO.

In the end, none of this really matters much as I am really enjoying the game. Maybe I'll grow to like it in a few more hours.
The only thing I can recollect that was a bit off to me on any of those things was the hostage voices seemed a bit forced. There's also the fact that Deacon still sometimes mentions he has to go back and clear out an infestation zone, when he's already done so, which feels like a bug they never addressed. Not really a big issue though, and it doesn't really happen more often than not.

Yes, at times Deacon yells out of the blue or speaks some angry words, but it's generally a response to Copeland's radio transmissions, a camp of enemies he encounters, etc. The cutscene's I feel are done quite well though, At times they can feel a bit long, but are skippable, so. I'm having a hard time understanding your reference to them missing continuity to previous scenes. Nothing comes to mind in that regard, especially to the point of being laughable. I haven't played TLoU in it's entirety, but have played it some and have seen it played by my friend and others, and don't see it's cutscenes as being by far better than those of Days Gone.

Glad you're enjoying the game though, that's what matters most. (y)
 

tunghaichuan

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I've been replaying Diablo 2 on my XP gaming rig. Diablo 2 will install on Windows 10, but the 800x600 graphics to look like crap at 1080 on a 27" monitor. The game looks pretty good on my 20" 1600x900 lcd monitor. I'm looking forward to the newly remastered version of D2, which is coming in September.

I've also been replaying Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast as well. Same thing, the game looks good at 800x600 on my small lcd monitor.

I downloaded and installed Two Worlds: Epic Edition on my main computer. It is a great looking game. Most people didn't like it, due to the glitchy nature of the game play and the horrendous, cringy dialog during the cut scenes. The game has always run well for me with minimal bugs and I like some of the game mechanics: namely that items can be combined with identical items to produce a stronger version. It eliminates repetitive farming of bosses for better items.
 

tunghaichuan

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Really good game, enjoyed playing it, was my first Star Wars game. Have you tried playing it in VSR at higher res on the other monitor? Your rig should be able to handle it.

Thanks for the tip. (y) I only installed it on my XP gaming rig. I didn't know that the graphics could be run at higher resolutions. I have the original boxed version that I bought 20+ years ago, but also got it on Steam during a sale. It installed the Steam version and runs well on my main rig: Ryzen 7 2700 and GTX 1660 ti.

I like the game but it was frustrating playing it. It doesn't hold your hand like a lot of newer games, so I frequently get stuck and run around the level for hours looking for a way to complete it.