Favorite Video Games

[Someguy]

I would be curious to hear everyone's opinions on the best modern video games.

Right now, I'm enjoying Witcher 3 quite a bit. It's truly a massive game with tons of side questing opportunities however, none of the questing feels tired or overused. Most questing feels like you are actually accomplishing something and they don't come off as simple fetch quests... As they commonly did in Skyrim.

What other games are out there that the community is enjoying?

[Sigfried]

Witcher 3 is pretty fantastic.

I've been playing Civ VI and a few iPad games including Batman Arkham Underworld.

Civ VI is in many ways excelent, in some ways very flawed. Arkham Underworld is a very nice free to play with more depth than the genre usually has.

[Someguy]

That's another game on my "To do list"

[Sigfried]

BTW: For anyone interested... My steam handle is "sigtrent" happy to friend people there.

Ive also got a gaming blog at http://www.downyowlbear.com/hoots-and-growls/ where I post the very occasional game review or game design article.

[Someguy]

BTW: For anyone interested... My steam handle is "sigtrent" happy to friend people there.

Ive also got a gaming blog at http://www.downyowlbear.com/hoots-and-growls/ where I post the very occasional game review or game design article.

I'll check those out.

Other games I've enjoyed:

-Dragon Age: Inquisition
-Madden 2016
-Dark souls
-Gears of War (all except Judgment)
-Deus Ex
-Metal gear
-Final fantasy series
And so on

Maybe we should make some top 10 lists for ODN?

[CliveStaples]

WoW: Legion is pretty great so far. And there's good old League of Legends (and its bastard progeny Heroes of the Storm)

[Someguy]

WoW: Legion is pretty great so far. And there's good old League of Legends (and its bastard progeny Heroes of the Storm)

I play WoW on a private server...one based on WotLK. I havent tried any version beyond that.

[Mr. Hyde]

I just got into the Witcher 3, and among others, I've been going back to Dark Souls 2 and 3.

I've found I'm probably not the best monster hunter to be calling. "She's on the run for her life!? I'LL SAVE HER...right after this round of cards...and catching up with a friend...and picking a butt-load of flowers."

Pretty sure DS2 is the best and more underappreciated of the three.

[Someguy]

I tried hard to get into DS2, I just really, really hated the permanently lose part of your health bar game mechanic. Plus, the fast travel didn't seem in keeping with what I'd come to expect from a Dark souls game. Though, it was fair necessary considering how the different areas of the map didn't seem to interconnect like they did in DS1. Maybe I should give it another chance though

[Mr. Hyde]

I tried hard to get into DS2, I just really, really hated the permanently lose part of your health bar game mechanic. Plus, the fast travel didn't seem in keeping with what I'd come to expect from a Dark souls game. Though, it was fair necessary considering how the different areas of the map didn't seem to interconnect like they did in DS1. Maybe I should give it another chance though

I'm gonna go ahead and lay out a LOT on the game here in regards to those things because there's reasons for it. As far as the health bar goes, a human effigy should restore what you lose from hollowing. On the subject of Hollowing though, there are reasons to let it slide and dwindle. You can get a pyromancy flame called "Dark Pyromancy Flame" (inventive, I know) that scales in power in proportion to your hollowing. The more hollow you are, the stronger the flame. The Forlorn Greatsword is another example, and even allows you a bit of a cheat in the arena with the Red Covenant (can't recall their name, didn't care for it as a whole) because each duel automatically restores you to full health, regardless of hollowing, allowing you to keep both your health and the scaling for the sword.

As far as bonfire warping, the accepted speculation is that a cursed undead broke the filled lord vessel at some point in the past (you can see what appears to be pieces of it in the basement of the manor in Majula) and that this had some globalised effect on the world. The general argument here is that since Lordran was in the canopy of the arch trees, the trees must've collapsed or broken somehow, and the world above fell onto the world below, shattering the Lord Vessel in the process. That. To me. Seems unnecessarily convoluted though the "shifting lands" lore from DS3 would point to that being a strong possibility. If the lands converged, then it would explain why when you get to Dragon's Aeryie, that the mountainous plateaus (which are basically arch trees) would lurch high in the clouds and stop with no branches or canopies.

I myself, prefer the much more simple explanation: Vendrick and Aldia, in their mutual quest to cure the curse, altered the bonfires to allow for faster travel from place to place. Aldia's appearances throughout the game (each at a bonfire) backs up the notion that it's not just YOU who can teleport, but others as well. I'd argue the latter explanation makes more sense because DS2 isn't a "Fire/Darkness Cycle" themed game like the other two. It's themed around you, as an individual, becoming hollow. The enemies you fight aren't just mindless future stab victims. They are literally your future unless you find a cure, which is why you're in Drangleic to begin with. Everything in the game is centered around people and the curse.

To give a good example of the departure here. The Witch of Izalith in DS1 is explained as acquiring a Lord Soul of Life, and trying to recreate the First Flame, failing, and becoming the Bed of Chaos. The lore on her isn't so much about who she or even what she did beyond her impact and relation to the First Flame. Compare that to a guy like the Iron King in DS2. We don't even SEE him (or even a mutated form of him) but we know infinitely more about him. We learn that he conquered the kingdom of Venn. Expanded the borders and later founded the Brume Tower and an empire-forging ability in the Smelter Rod (which instantly smelts ore into metal). After meeting a knight from the east, Sir Alonne, he developed a well disciplined army of ninja-knights. He made a treaty with the Baneful Queen (or perhaps had a relationship) that allowed him to mine the Harvest Valley. The speed at which he could create iron led him to mine the valley into a toxic wasteland, which required them to build windmills to push the gas away enough so that people could work.

The resulting conditions and the Queen's attempts to keep his attention led her to poisonous herself to the extent that she became Weirdy Mc-Snake Bitch. And her secret admirer went full Jabba alongside her. I'd argue that, seeing THIS as a result of the Iron King's impact on the world, that was the reason Sir Alonne left for the Brume Tower, taking a keep sake with him. The Iron King followed, confronted Alonne, and killed him. After killing his friend, he finds nestled in another room, an old wooden throne, a reminder of where the King had come from. He returns home, stows the only key to get there underground guarded by flaming lizard monsters, and kills himself. We get a near clear picture of his life. The rise, rule, and fall. And this is for a character we don't even encounter.

There's scores more for Vendrick, Aldia, Emerald Herald, etc. The lore to me though gets absolutely no better than the Ivory King and city of Eleum Lloyce.

[MindTrap028]

Civilizations V (haven't purchased the latest yet.. though I wish I could have gotten some of the others)
Rome Total war II
Fallout 3 (when I have time)

[Someguy]

Yes, yes, and yes.

I'm enjoying Skyrim at the moment

[futureboy]

Portal 1 & 2
Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty
Hotline Miami
Dirt 2 & 3

[Dionysus]

SOMA
Alien: Isolation
Fallout 4
This War of Mine
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak

[RubenKin]

I can't say what my favorite video game of all time is, there are too many I love to pick just one. But in recent years, I enjoyed The Witcher 3 the most. That game is a masterpiece.

[stomback]

I have the “I”

I have the “L”

I have the “O”

I have the “V”

I have the “E”, …

so please can I have “U” ?

[Aspoestertjie]

Sounds like a sick game to me...

My favourite...

Mario Bros of course!

[ladykrimson]

Now, we are talking my language! I tend to play games still in the Alpha stage of development.

My absolute favorite game is 7 Days to Die, a sandbox zombie-apocalypse survival game where one can loot, build a base, kill zombies, learn skills, etc. Other great games include:

Subnautica (Underwater story-driven survival game)
Friday the 13th - The Game (One player is Jason and 7 other players are camp counselors trying to escape the camp)
Minecraft (I hope everyone knows what this game is)
Unturned - A free zombie-apocalypse survival game
Creeper World - Tower defense against deadly creeping goo.
Plants vs. Zombies - One of the best tower-defense games ever made
Stardew Valley - Repair, build and maintain your farm and relationships

[Sigfried]

I'm playing Stardew Valley quite a bit lately. Its a very fine game! Not super compelling for me, but really well crafted and executed.