What game are you playing?

[Johncarllos]

So. Much. Genshin Impact.

I tried it and got so overwhelmed by the dense jrpg elements. I feel like I needed to devote like 4 hours to the first launch and every time I came back (3 times or so) I felt so lost.

[Mikero]

Interesting, I don't really think of it as having "jrpg elements" typically. I guess maybe the elemental reactions? Really the opening area is just a BOTW clone, and that's all you need to know to get into the game really. It opens up a lot more after the prologue and cements that it is own thing.

I wasn't expecting to get that into it initially but I was hooked once I started going into the second area (Liyue). There's so much more depth to mechanics than I expected.

[Johncarllos]

I played it a month or two after launch and most of what I remember is being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and mechanics. Maybe I just equate that with early game in jrpgs, or maybe there was some event going on?

I can't help but think that if you're that into it, I just haven't given it enough of a shot.

I also might have been running the android version through bluestacks before the PC release? It's been over a year, but I think I'll give it another try. I'm looking for another game to get into until Nier Replicant goes on sale again. I loved Nier Automata.

The only other game I might get back into right now is Red Dead 2, since it has DLSS now, and I have a 3070 so I can run the game at it's full fidelity.

[Johncarllos]

This game REALLY doesn't want me to play it, haha.

[Mikero]

Hahhah yeah they updated yesterday, new dual banner system and some new content.

I played it a month or two after launch and most of what I remember is being overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information and mechanics. Maybe I just equate that with early game in jrpgs, or maybe there was some event going on?

No that makes sense, I think was ignoring reading some of that stuff early on 'cause I wasn't expecting to like it. I thought "it's just waifu collecting" but then I realized I actually really like the gameplay.

For reference I never play any other gacha games. I don't really like the practice and Genshin has a lot of controversies and stuff with that, but I still think they made something very impressive and fun. Especially considering they were just aiming to be another mobile game, but ended up making something equivalent to a AAA title.

I play on PC, personally, which helps it feel like a real game. I only play on mobile if I'm away but need to get my dailies in or something 'cause I was f2p until very recently--but even then I only spent like $20 and am not really planning to spend more for a long time.

Co-op is kinda weak but it exists too!

[Mikero]

So I'm not a Halo guy, I've actually never played one before, but some friends were playing Halo Infinite and it's free so I gave it a shot...

I have 5 hours in the game now and about 4 of those is me waiting in loading screens for this ##### to just crash. I've only managed to play with and against bots, and I can say the gameplay is fun but it's not rewarding to play that way (it's endless and there's not even an objective).

My rig isn't amazing, but some parts have been updated since I built it and it almost meets recommended settings, let alone clearing the minimum so I can't figure out what is going on here at all. I should at least be able to get 60fps on medium settings but somehow I'm getting 45 on low and can't actually play with real people. What's crazy is like... Apparently this is a confluence of known bugs that aren't being addressed at all.

[TheRedPriest]

Never really been a fan of FPS.  Halo isn't anything special in that regard.  Plus that's the "live service" online part of it to boot.  Don't expect any level of quality or fun out of it.

[Speed Racer]

I logged in to do the training part of Halo Infinite. It felt good to be back, as I haven't really sat down to play a Halo game in a long-ass time.

[Mikero]

Classic "live service" apathy, for sure. And with this thing there's not much incentive for Microsoft to fix anything. The little bit I've experience was a lot of fun.

[Johncarllos]

So I'm not a Halo guy, I've actually never played one before, but some friends were playing Halo Infinite and it's free so I gave it a shot...

I have 5 hours in the game now and about 4 of those is me waiting in loading screens for this ##### to just crash. I've only managed to play with and against bots, and I can say the gameplay is fun but it's not rewarding to play that way (it's endless and there's not even an objective).

My rig isn't amazing, but some parts have been updated since I built it and it almost meets recommended settings, let alone clearing the minimum so I can't figure out what is going on here at all. I should at least be able to get 60fps on medium settings but somehow I'm getting 45 on low and can't actually play with real people. What's crazy is like... Apparently this is a confluence of known bugs that aren't being addressed at all.

I've got a modern mid end PC (Ryzen 5600x and GTX 3070) and even on medium setting, Halo Infinite runs like dog poo. Huge frame rate drops, and I max at 85-90 FPS, where in any other game at those settings I should be pulling 160-200 (Though I cap it at 120).

Splitgate is where it's at. Feels like Halo 3, but has portal guns. It's sick. It's a better halo game than infinite, looks just as good, and can run on a potato.

As for Genshin Impact, I put a few hours into it, just got up to a 4 person party and am liking the gameplay more. I'm hoping they integrate more mobility mechanics as I advance. Definitely getting the waifu collector vibe though, choice jiggle physics.

I recently picked up Dead Cells. Apparently getting your first win generally takes 10+ hours? I got lucky on a legendary item drop, had a really sick build going, and got my first win at about 5 hours of playtime. First day of owning it.

It's a REALLY fun game. Scratches a bit of the roguelite itch I got from Hades, which I'm still working on beating at 32 heat.

[Snare]

My laptop runs Minecraft at about 10-12 fps and I've managed to make some good stuff.

[Mikero]

Hahah I actually just went back to Minecraft again with the new update. At least that runs alright, even with shaders! :O

So I'm not a Halo guy, I've actually never played one before, but some friends were playing Halo Infinite and it's free so I gave it a shot...

I have 5 hours in the game now and about 4 of those is me waiting in loading screens for this ##### to just crash. I've only managed to play with and against bots, and I can say the gameplay is fun but it's not rewarding to play that way (it's endless and there's not even an objective).

My rig isn't amazing, but some parts have been updated since I built it and it almost meets recommended settings, let alone clearing the minimum so I can't figure out what is going on here at all. I should at least be able to get 60fps on medium settings but somehow I'm getting 45 on low and can't actually play with real people. What's crazy is like... Apparently this is a confluence of known bugs that aren't being addressed at all.

I've got a modern mid end PC (Ryzen 5600x and GTX 3070) and even on medium setting, Halo Infinite runs like dog poo. Huge frame rate drops, and I max at 85-90 FPS, where in any other game at those settings I should be pulling 160-200 (Though I cap it at 120).

Splitgate is where it's at. Feels like Halo 3, but has portal guns. It's sick. It's a better halo game than infinite, looks just as good, and can run on a potato.

As for Genshin Impact, I put a few hours into it, just got up to a 4 person party and am liking the gameplay more. I'm hoping they integrate more mobility mechanics as I advance. Definitely getting the waifu collector vibe though, choice jiggle physics.

I recently picked up Dead Cells. Apparently getting your first win generally takes 10+ hours? I got lucky on a legendary item drop, had a really sick build going, and got my first win at about 5 hours of playtime. First day of owning it.

It's a REALLY fun game. Scratches a bit of the roguelite itch I got from Hades, which I'm still working on beating at 32 heat.

Good to know that it's the game. My system is a little janky because I melted the old motherboard. So now my new CPU and board are much better than my GPU and things bottleneck (but there's no way I'm getting a GPU these days). But still, if it's between "minimum" and "recommended" it should at least run.

In Genshin if you get a character like Mona or Ayaka, they have a completely different dash mechanic which is divisive. I got Mona on my second pull and Ayaka pretty early so I love their dash, but it gets stuck on some geometry. Hu Tao also has a unique dash, but it's more cosmetic than mechanical. And yeah, some weird jiggle physics that I don't need, but it sells I guess. I didn't even really notice it until I got Raiden Shogun.

Gameplay-wise, they standard characters they throw at you early on aren't really it. They're fine, but I found the gameplay a lot more fun once I got different characters off of wishes. Especially the ones with with better animations or totally unique mechanics like Hu Tao. Right now it's the first double re-run banner they've ever done. If you need a main DPS you should pull for Eula (she's a phys dmg claymore with high dps and good animations). Albedo can be pretty cracked too, he's a sub dps for most people though not everyone likes his gameplay. He got majorly skipped the first time he came around because his banner was between two OP characters, so now most people are going after him. That was before my time so I have to pick too.

But there's also this new character coming on the next banner named Arataki Itto, and he's a big muscle man with a pig, a club, and a six pack. So it's hard to say if you should save wishes or not.

They actually introduced a rogue-lite mode into Genshin recently, but it was an event so it's gone for now. Now that I'm more into rogue-lites I should give Dead Cells a look-in. Though I'm saving hard right now cash-wise.

[Snare]

Hahah I actually just went back to Minecraft again with the new update. At least that runs alright, even with shaders! :O

Lucky duck.

Look at my tree btw

[TheRedPriest]

Why do you always have to make this about plants?

[Mikero]

Well he wouldn't be "Plant Boy" otherwise, Mr. Tomatoe Schtick

[TheRedPriest]

I only bring up tomatoes when we order pizza, and you know it.

[Xero]

I've played Metroid Dread, Mario Party Superstars, Warioware Get it Together, all good games. 

[Johncarllos]

Snare: That's a very pretty tree.

Mike: What is your graphics card? I got Dead Cells on sale for $15.81 USD, and that looked like a pretty typical sale price. I also have a loooong ways to go until I even really get the Wish mechanic.

[Mikero]

Snare: That's a very pretty tree.

Mike: What is your graphics card? I got Dead Cells on sale for $15.81 USD, and that looked like a pretty typical sale price. I also have a loooong ways to go until I even really get the Wish mechanic.

Nah it won't be that long until you can wish, you just need to get into the swing of things and you'll hit is really fast. Anytime you open a chest, do any quest related stuff, or do a domain you'll get points towards AR and the first 20 ranks come pretty fast. Also once you're around then I should be able to jump into your world and help you clap anything since I'm way farther along. My UID is 630723693

My graphics card is a GTX 970. That's an aged card, even though it's still not really "bad". Most things still run fine with it, but I melted my old MB and had to get a new one and a new CPU (i7-10700F). Those in particular have some bottleneck with this GPU. I know specifically Halo Infinite is more CPU intensive than GPU so that's what had me curious, but looks like it's not uncommon and nobody I know is playing the game anymore already.

[Johncarllos]

I'll hit you up next time I'm on!

If I was running a 970 I wouldn't bother looking until cards are back near MSRP. More than anything with modern games the 3.5GB of RAM is more of a bottleneck than the sheer processing speed of the card. Nvidia is about to release a 2060 with 12GB of RAM, which would be a solid upgrade.

I highly recommend the EVGA queue. They sell their cards at MSRP in order of reservation. When you click 'auto-notify' on their site, no money down, they send you an email with your reservation and 8 hours to buy it at the card's shelf price. Its how I got my 3070 for $550.

The 10700F is no slouch, either. Once you do get a GPU upgrade you'll have quite a ballsy computer on your hands.

[Mikero]

Nice, that's good to know! I needed the computer fixed quickly for work so I kind of had to trust that the guy at the store was giving me decent stuff. I never really knew for sure because he never mentioned the GPU bottlenecking issue to me (I'm assuming because there's nothing he could really do about it) and I found that out later.

I can't really be spending on a card anyway for a while, but maybe I can swing it later on when it's actually available. I'm not hardcore about my PC but during the pandemic I've been playing on PC more with friends and stuff.

[Snare]

I'm surprised you guys can find actual computer stuff despite the terrible trend of such things being purchased en masse in order to set up rigs that solve sudokus while they burn down rainforests using the entire power output of Luxembourg. If I find out any of you guys are into crypto currency I will freaking. I'll do something I just don't know what yet.

[Snare]

Ah I'll shove you in a locker is what I'll do.

[Johncarllos]

Thankfully I'm not into pretend money gambling. I'd need to have a lot of bones broken and goop squeezed out of me to fit in a locker.

[TheRedPriest]

If I want pretend money I'll break out Monopoly.

[Mikero]

I'm surprised you guys can find actual computer stuff despite the terrible trend of such things being purchased en masse in order to set up rigs that solve sudokus while they burn down rainforests using the entire power output of Luxembourg. If I find out any of you guys are into crypto currency I will freaking. I'll do something I just don't know what yet.

Nah I built my PC before that was really a big trend. But the crypto mining craze is part of why I'll have to wait on upgrades.

[Snare]

I just knew in my heart of hearts that despite the world turning into some totally bizarre hellscape that you guys would survive and remain somewhat unmarred from all of it. It warms the hot and sour soup that is my soul.

[Johncarllos]

Thank you Snare. I'm happy to see folks mostly unmarred as well. Except by how bad Halo Infinite multiplayer is.

[Majikn]

If we're going to use pretend money it needs to be an incentive for good, not destructive, behaviour. I kind of hope it all goes bust for the greedy corporations that are doing it for that reason.
That's like half the point of money. You provide something of value and get something of value in return.

Or at least that's how I would wish things would be.

I don't understand the value we assign to crypto when the meaningful impact is what it is. It's really just sad to me.

End rant.

Last game I was playing was Rain World earlier in the year. I never finished it because it's a pretty difficult game to get the hang of. I don't think there's anything quite like it and I love it.

[Teelio]

   Played some WarioWare & Metroid Dread when those released. Very good games, especially Dread.

   Level design is fantastic. Some of the collectibles are too much of a pain to collect. Found myself not using the melee counter as much, except for in boss fights where it's necessary to progress (kind of a shame to structure fights around QTEs). Most importantly, Samus is bae. Overall a 9/10.

   My girl and I have been trying to find other co-op games to play aside from WarioWare, A Way Out, and It Takes Two (almost finished with our second playthrough with ITT).

   Aside from that, been flipping between Halo Infinite's campaign and Fallout 76.
   

[Mikero]

John you should get to the point you can wish for characters in Genshin 'cause holy damn the new 5-star character, Arataki Itto, is insane. He releases today but he's already out in Asia and he seems so sick. Plus that's where the game is far more interesting since the early characters they give out are kinda mid.

I decided yesterday to pull for Eula, another cracked out claymore DPS. I got her and don't regret it at all, she's awesome and I'm addicted to the cryo characters, but am I thinking I might slow roll to snag an Itto if I'm lucky.

[NovaMan XP]

I did play Genshin for a few months when it came out, but for whatever reason I lost interest and never went back to it. I was playing it on PS4 and then eventually PS5, but if I ever go back to it I'll probably swap over to PC since cross save is a thing now.

My favorite to use was Beidou, I liked her counter attack special. I think the rest of my team consisted of Ganyu, Hu Tao and Jean. But I also liked swapping to Venti, Bennett, Chongyun and Ninnguang too occassionally.

I picked up the Shin Megami Tensei III Remaster and Kingdom Hearts Melody of Memory for Switch but still haven't played them because I'm having one of those fun time super depressive episodes where I either do nothing or play an old game I've played a million times already because I don't have the energy for something new. Yay!

But I'll play them eventually! They'll just go into my backlog... that I've had since 2012 and has only gotten worse.

[Mikero]

Yeah! I have you on PSN so I saw your Staff of Homa and cried. Actually you have a lot of the cracked characters from early on. I started in the summer so I just got Hu Tao (she was rerun recently) and am hoping for Ganyu soon. You should check out the Inazuma characters and stuff though, the story is getting pretty good.

[NovaMan XP]

So I was able to link my PSN stuff to the PC version of Genshin so I'm back on that now. UID is 602516285. Now to catch up on a lot.

[Snare]

I'm playing Mario

[TheRedPriest]

You're going to have to elaborate.

[Mikero]

So I was able to link my PSN stuff to the PC version of Genshin so I'm back on that now. UID is 602516285. Now to catch up on a lot.

Sweet! I'm trying to get Shenhe now since I'm all about Cryo, gonna need some luck on my side.

[Speed Racer]

You're going to have to elaborate.

It's the one where he's wearing red and he jumps on the enemies' heads.

[NovaMan XP]

That's my favorite one!

[Speed Racer]

I got my hands on an Xbox Series X through the "All Access" program, which gets me the console and two years of Game Pass Ultimate, by paying about $31/mo for two years. That was great up until I was playing the XB1 version of Hot Wheels Unleashed, when I discovered I could no longer do perfect starts because the system runs that version of the game a little too quickly. Thankfully I found confirmation through a Reddit post that achievements and save data are shared between the XB1 and XSX versions, so now I just need to get the game when it goes on sale again.

Two games I enjoy playing baked as of late is Alphaset by POWGI, which is a crossword puzzle-like game where you have to insert all 26 letters of the alphabet once per puzzle to complete all of the words. The other is The Gunk, a scifi 3D platformer where you have to suck up all of this...gunk...that is sucking the life out of an uncharted planet. It feels very Ghostbusters-like, and I like playing it because it's fairly relaxing until I get too baked to figure out where I am. Then I start it up the next day (baked again) and am like "...where the ##### did I get myself," progress further, only to eventually get lost again.

[TheRedPriest]

You're going to have to elaborate.

It's the one where he's wearing red and he jumps on the enemies' heads.

I'm going to have to ban you.

[Mikero]

So I was able to link my PSN stuff to the PC version of Genshin so I'm back on that now. UID is 602516285. Now to catch up on a lot.

I forgot to mention I already have you on my friends' list via Playstation, but you don't see my PSN when you play on PC (I play on PC too, just checked it out on PS4 a couple times) so my account is the one called YoungPorter right now.

[NovaMan XP]

Been playing Pokémon Legends: Arceus the past few days. It's been fun so far.  Been mostly getting distracted in the game instead of progressing the story.

[TheRedPriest]

I've heard pretty much good stuff about it.  Other than graphics "suck".  And even then the game itself is so fun they don't really care so much.

[Snare]

Having skipped most of the 8th gen, I went into Arceus Legends with much apprehension but it's been nothing but fun and charming. The gameplay hook is simple but addicting. It's not perfect but this is definitely the direction the franchise ought to take going forward.

That being said, you'd think Gamefreak would be a larger company, what with having the world's top grossing franchise by a major margin.

[Xero]

I'm playing Super Squidlit now for the Switch.  Really adorable game that harkens back to gameboy days.  You should also give Squidlit a try too.  Between that and Banjo-Kazooie.

[Mikero]

Ghostrunner. My kinda thing.

That being said, you'd think Gamefreak would be a larger company, what with having the world's top grossing franchise by a major margin.

Gamefreak only owns like a third of The Pokemon Company. Nintendo and Creatures Inc. own the rest but Nintendo has large stock portions of Creatures so Nintendo ends up effectively being the major ownership and, thus, beneficiary.

[Speed Racer]

Since I recently got an iPhone 13 with waaaaaaay more space and a bigger screen size, I've returned to gaming on my phone when I'm really bored. Right now I'm focusing on Forza Street since the servers are slated to shut down on April 11th and I still have three achievements left.

Tbh the game is a decent time-waster, and now that I have a bigger screen I'm enjoying it more. Fingers crossed I can complete the game before the servers go off, but I think I should be good.

[Snare]

Ghostrunner. My kinda thing.

That being said, you'd think Gamefreak would be a larger company, what with having the world's top grossing franchise by a major margin.

Gamefreak only owns like a third of The Pokemon Company. Nintendo and Creatures Inc. own the rest but Nintendo has large stock portions of Creatures so Nintendo ends up effectively being the major ownership and, thus, beneficiary.

sounds like a buncha mumbo jumbo, Mike. You can't just make up words and use them on me like that, okay? Beneficiary. Come on.

[TheRedPriest]

If Nintendo didn't have a controlling share of Pokemon, I'm sure it would be on other platforms.