What Are You Playing Now?

I am playing Skyrim

 

Seiken Densetsu 3 (fan translated version)

Final Fantasy 6

Lunar 2: Eternal Blue

 

This, borrowed from a friend. I love the style, but it appears to give me motion sickness, and I can't hit anything. I suck at it.

 

I've gotten hooked on Mount & Blade, a medieval open-world RPG with strategy elements. And it is pretty damn cool. It has a very good combat system involving directional attacks and blocks and mounted combat.

I'm also chugging along with Empire: Total War, a turn-based strategy with real-time battles in which you control troops of soldiers on a map. The Total War series in general is really good, the last one I played being the original Rome: Total War.

I also occasionally play some Dark Souls 2. While in many respects it isn't quite as good as the original Dark Souls, it is still pretty damn good and did make a fair few mechanical improvements such as a proper dual-wielding system.

I have over 600 hours in Civilization V and that number ain't gonna stop increasing any time soon. Civ V is part of the classic 4X strategy series in which you control one of a shitload of civilisations. At launch the game was good, but somewhat lacking, but with the Brave New World expansion pack, which added mechanics like tourism and trade routes, among others, the game is now an amazing piece of strategy game.

 

Lichdom: Battlemage. Haven't actually played much yet, just got a copy last week before my computer fan failed. But it's a heavily mage-themed FPS, apparently built by mage fans for mage fans. Which was the selling point that got me to shell out money for it; I'm one of those. The full release hasn't come out yet but it's available on Steam Early Access, or at least it was a week ago. Quite excited about playing it when I have more time, and might be something for fantasy and mage/wizard/magic enthusiasts. PC only, unfortunately. GameSpot review.

 

For the longest while I've been a huge fan of the game Guns of Icarus Online. It's an incredibly unique indie-developed multiplayer experience by which teams of airships face off against each other, each ship being manned by four players. There are three roles to choose from: pilot (who flies the ship), gunner (who shoots the guns), and engineer (who repairs and maintains the ship). Though, any person can fly the ship or shoot a gun or repair the hull, it's just that an engineer is better at repairing than the others, etc.

As to the ships, there are 7 templates to choose from, each with set hard points for light and heavy guns, the captain (usually the pilot) being able to decide which guns they're gonna bring. The ships each also handle differently and have different strengths, with some being fast and nimble, but made of tissue paper, and others being veritable tanks that move at a snail's pace.

The reason I love the game so much is, as I said earlier, the uniqueness of it. You truly won't find any other multiplayer experience like it. I personally love being a pilot, and there really aren't many feelings better than when you pull off an insane 3-dimensional manoeuvre, narrowly escaping from the enemy or bringing your guns to bear.

 

Well today I completed Assassin's Creed 3 (I'm usually 2 years or so behind the latest games).

At the moment I'm also replaying The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion again, with a wood elf pilgrim specialising in blunt. Taking a break from that at the moment though. Also taking a break from Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare, second playthrough. Next I'll be starting Dead Space 2 for the first time.

 

Alright Skyrim! I've gone through three copies of it so far. The Xbox keeps tearing them up after a year or so.

Although I still play Skyrim occasionally, most of my time is spent on Dark Souls. No game has ever pissed me off half as bad as Dark Souls does every single time I play it. Worst part is, it isn't the big-ass bosses that kill me. It's the ****ing weak-ass enemies ganging up on me in groups of three or four, not giving me time to block or dodge their attacks! Dark Souls doesn't just kill you constantly, it humiliates you at the same time.

 

Oh, I'm totally still playing Skyrim with New Vegas on the side.

 

Fallouts 3 and New Vegas are two of my favourite ever games. Such immersive worldbuilding.

 

Roleplaying helps extend Skyrim's life, I think. Along with mods. So if you're able to play on the pc there Phil, I suggest looking into some mods that add more immersion. Also maybe running a character with a challenging build. I've been thinking of running a bard for a while, let's see if I actually get to that someday.

 

I used to play Skyrim, and to be fair I did have a certain degree of fun with it. But I wouldn't really want to play it again. I think the best way to sum it up is, it's a game as wide as an ocean, but as deep as a puddle.