Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing?

Been playing FTL off and on for quite a while. Still trying to beat all the ships on hard.

I am very bad at that game, but I still love it.
OMG I should so get back into it.

Probably the game I've played the most hours of, but I haven't played in years.

And yeah, Hard is not a joke. I wish you good luck, and may your ennemies' shield rooms always burn.
Have you ever tried the Infinite Space mod? It removes the final boss and turns it more into a "see how far you can get" roguelike.
- I haven't. I know there's a ton of content mods too. I'd like to try them some day when I have some more time.

I've been playing Yakuza 5 and, as always, I cannot recommend this series enough. There's a pretty large quality drop-off going from Kiwami 2 to Yakuza 3 Remastered, but at minimum Yakuza 0, Kiwami, and Kiwami 2 are all worth playing 100% and after the hurdle of 3 it gets great again.

The stories are well-paced crime thrillers, the characters are interesting, the combat manages to feel good without just being another Arkham clone, and the games being set in Japan makes it a fun experience to walk through as someone who doesn't live there. They're a blast. Not on sale at the moment, but the Steam Summer Sale starts tomorrow.

They're actually still on sale right now, on GOG, I believe. The entire series is something like 80% off.
- I hadn't even known they were on GOG.
As of the other day the series was on sale at GOG. ~$30 for 0 though 6.

New to the series and started with 0 and been enjoying it.
Wasn't expecting someone to mention Yakuza when I opened this thread! I'm in the middle of playing Kiwami 2 right now after having played 0 and Kiwami 1 like 2 years ago. I'm super glad it had a massive recap of the previous game at the beginning because as much as like the series, there's so much shit that goes on and I didn't remember half of it. I think 0 is the standout in the series so far and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to get into the games.
I wouldn't exactly call it a quality drop off since Kiwami 1 and 2 are basically full remakes of the original first 2 games using the newer engines. The story is still really strong going forward. But I do agree that I got whiplash going from Kiwami 2 to 3, 4, and 5.

Been doing a proper run-through of Everspace 2, it finally came out of a two-year Early Access a few months ago, currently on 20% sale and has a free demo. Really enjoying it, it's very Freelancer-esque and I'm liking the stop-start animated cutscene style.

I probably wouldn’t have tried it out without GamePass, but I’m so glad I did. I think the 3rd person works well with a controller layout, and I’m honestly having more fun flying here than in SW: Squadrons. I do admit it’s making me wish I had the full flight stick kit.

Still playing Rimworld, committing atrocities to society if I’m not playing FFXIV. I always find some new mod to use or new challenge. I get bored with the end game and usually just start a new one, so in my current colony I’m trying to either launch the ship or get enough honor to take over their shuttle. I have yet to complete the game lol even after 100’s of hours of playing it.

I've been on a Rimworld binge while away, one of the few games my laptop can handle and I have to say, it's sooooo good, and yes the temptation to rebuild everything from scratch to create the perfect colony is always so strong.

I've been getting back into modded Skyrim. I realized that I've played so little of the actual game that this challenge is to complete some content instead of the same Helgen/Whiterun loop over and over again.

Look into getting a n alternate start mod. That way you can skip the game up to whiterun or at least go back to it later

Battle Bit, Overwatch, DRG and World of Warships.

DRG is just a great game, and a new battlepass season just started. The battlepass is free, just a place to unlock cosmetics, no FOMO since they get added to the game's drop pool once they're not on the battlepass.

Xcom and Fallout New vegas.

Same but xcom2. Both are great running on an Ayaneo 2.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen. Finally completed the base game after falling off from the tediousness. I really hope the sequel addresses that issue because otherwise, it has fantastic combat in a world with mythical creatures.

I have it in my library. Any tips for a beginner? Anything to watch out for?
- Wolves hunt in packs
  
  Jokes aside I will say your main pawn learns by watching what you do, so it helps to have a general idea what type of character you want to play as and preferably have your pawn have similar playstyle.
  
  It does help with their AI and also when at bars telling them to keep quiet does help your sanity.
  
  Be careful about pawn commands, it has an effect on pawn ai playstyle weighting.
  
  Pawns learn to fight enemies better based off a series of "weak points" that they learn by either fighting, hitting an enemy with an element weakness or hiting a enemy on a weak spot - example cutting off a chimera tail or blinding a cyclops.
  
  And destoying weakpoints is also an way to get rare ingredients, like cyclops tusks from destoying the cyclop's tusks sticking out their mouths.

I'm replaying Ghost of Tsushima. Sure it's an open world, go-to-icon, action collectathon but it looks beautiful and is punctuated with enough genuine fun to keep me interested. This one and Horizon Zero Dawn as last gasps of the PS4 are much better than they needed to be.

The shadowrun series, some of them are on the shorter side ( there are user made storys that you can get from the workshop) but the world / story telling of fantastic there are quirks with some of the earlier games but im really enjoying the series.

Besides finally spending some time in Divinity: Original Sin 2, I also finally tried Age of Wonders 4. I highly recommend trying both as they're both refreshing and excellent. Also tried out The Ur-Quan Masters, which is a remastered (FREE) version of Star Control II and I'll definitely spend some more time with it.

I will be checking out Age of Wonders 4 when it is on sale.
Star Control brings back the memories of rainy days and Sega Genesis.
Arilou Lalee'lay Skiff is my jam.

Populous needs to make a comeback.

I have been going hard on Kenshi as of late. Honestly such a unique game, I recommend giving it a look!

I recommend kenshi all the time. I love it.

Currently I'm still playing Divinity Original Sin 2, while doing dailies in Elder Scrolls Online.

If you ever choose to get into ESO, It can be very cheap to wait for a Collection on sale, I got ESO High Isle Collection for less than $20 on Steam. Base game + 6 DLC's, I have been playing for months without buying the subscription. The main limitation is carry capacity, but I already have 200 inventory space + 240 bank space.

I just finally got sucked into this game (Divinity) last week and wow, is it ever good. Like...really, really good.

I just basically finished Tears of the Kingdom. 150 hours, all shrines, almost all the armour, and pretty much all the side-quests done, plus the main quest. Probably my favourite game ever. Once my internet starts working again, I'm probably going to be playing Okami HD

I'm still playing TOTK, although I've been playing Mario Kart recently instead - I think I'm over exploring but don't want to finish it yet. I still have shrines to find at some point.

Replaying Dark Souls because I keep missing Elden Ring when it goes on sale

Currently playing Foundation, but I'm about to fire up Planet Crafter for the long weekend as they just dropped an update yesterday

I always love Beyond All Reason - so much so that I started a community for it !bar@discuss.tchncs.de. Also been going through the original Call of Juarez, but I think I enjoyed the newer Call of Juarez: Gunslinger more, which is only like $3.

Battle Bit (i know i'm a heathen around here). Hoping to pick up Rising Star 2 and Mini Healer in the sale.

Do people really dislike battlebit or something?
- I believe people are upset because they are dropping linux support or something similar that makes playing in linux difficult.

Steam Summer Sale 2023 is tomorrow, countdown clock

Immortality. FMV game which is closer to an interactive movie than a game. Included in xbox game pass.

It’s a mystery/thriller about an actress who has gone missing and whose films were never released. The gameplay involves scrubbing through clips of recovered movies/behind the scenes/extras and linking related people/objects to uncover more clips and more plot.

The lead actress is effectively playing four roles and she is absolutely incredible. I’ve found all the acting to be great but she is a stand out. I would typically find the idea of ‘watching’ a game more than ‘playing’ it to be a turn off but so far I have found it to be pretty enthralling and a great “in-between” for other games I’m playing.

Really highly recommend! Play with a controller though since the rumble is a hugely helpful part in finding ‘secrets’.

Be sure to check the list of content warnings though because there are some pretty intense scenes/themes

I've been playing Hollow Knight again. Sofar I've never beaten it but I have a feeling this will be the time! Generally get about an hour or two in after work while sitting with my wife as she watches garbage tv.

I know the game‘s decorated, but I‘ve only been in for like an hour or so. The generally melcancholic vibe of it hasn‘t caught me yet.

Does anyone who‘s played through the game have some tips for me (or us?) that they wished they would‘ve known when they first played the game?
- I've always found The Crossroads to not be the best opening. If you can get through Greenpath, I think the game will stick with you.
- I've finished the main story, but I am too fat fingered to do the white palace to unlock the extra good stuff
  
  I am pulling from memory here
  
  It is a game that rewards curiousity and will make you earn those extra rewards.
  
  I would say always try find the map maker, he whistles when you are nearby and they allow you to start mapping an area when you contact them and buy the map.
  
  Alternatively if you miss them in an area there is a bug lady in the base town that will sell a few things and her husband's exploration maps too, i think you have to at least contact the map maker at least once before she sells I think.
  
  In one on of the houses in the first area you can explore after tutorial has a cricket trapped in it. They provide a few items to save your bug coins for
  
  Bosses seem tough until you get the feel for a fight and then it starts to feel like a dance of sorts.
  
  If you see somewhere but can't get there, make note of it, you will later find something to make it easier and/ or possible to do it.
  
  If you want to really unlock the full game experience learning to nail hop is a good skill to get good at which is where I am fat finger it

Just picked up Party Hard 2...

Played the first one on steam and had a blast. It's like Hotline Miami but you're a serial killer just trying to get sleep so you have to murder everyone at the neighbors house party. Got the sequal on xbox this time

Gonna jump on it tonight.

Hahaha this sounds amazing! Thanks

I just finished Yakuza Kiwami 2 and am planning to start Mass Effect 1 Legendary tonight (never played). I'm open to any tips for which talents and whatnot to pick (I know pretty much nothing about it).

I'm like 60 hours into Ghost of Tsushima. Been loving the immersion in that game

Monster Hunter Rise just released it's final planned update after 2 years. It's PvE, and it still has a really large community so won't be hard to find partners for hunts.

I'm playing Robo Quest. It's a fps rogue lite from a few years ago. The combat reminds me of overwatch and the characters and weapons remind me of Borderlands.

Amazon is currently giving away Prey (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prey_(2017_video_game))

I really liked the game and the unique alternate history sci-fi world full of great technology gone horribly wrong. :)

The world-building relies a little too heavily on audio logs and found documents, which

Wolfenstein The New Order & Old Blood are kind of like that too.

Currently playing Mafia II, at ps3.

Been replaying The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age on my Steam Deck. Played the co-op mode with a friend a long time ago so it's been a nostalgic trip so far.

Street fighter 6. Love it. There is unfortunately no community for it on lemmy

Unfortunately we need to stay in bigger community groups until the level activity grows to a point where a community needs to break into smaller groups for specific games etc.

Alternatively you could make a c/StreetFighter and populate it while you wait for people to slowly come, I've been doing that with several lemmy communities, but I can only maintain so many postings per day. That being said, the rate which each of them have grown already is greater than I could have hoped.

You would also need to factor what instance to build it on, whether it is likely to get defederated and if its going to be one which people may check etc. However, if there is no other community yet, you just need to make sure its a simple enough domain to remember, etc. You really only need to post say twice per day.
- Thanks for the input! I am really thinking about making one, maybe in the lgbt lemmy, it's a niche that really works with the new games. Now I only have to learn how to do tgat on here....

I've just finished the final tier in Satisfactory after a two week addiction. I'll be keeping my eye on the steam summer sale for something to get into next. My wish list is getting long.

Finally played Persona 5 Royal. Absurdly good game, better than the hype. Third semester made me feel things like I haven't felt in a video game since Undertale

Just finished Assassins Creed 2 for the first time in at least 10 years and I’m currently playing Brotherhood. This is also my first time playing through the DLCs

Assassins Creed 2 (2009) $5.99 at -70%

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2010) $5.99 at -70%

Remnant in preparation for Remnant 2. Also currently part of Humble Bundle.

I just completed Blacksad: Under the Skin. Engaging story, somewhat janky controls. So now I'm in between games and am wondering if I should really start with Mass Effect.