What games have you been playing lately?

[Ravenfreak]

What games have you been playing lately? I started playing Wild Arms on my PS5, I upgraded my PS+ membership and this is one of the PS classic games available. I've been meaning to give this old PS1 rpg a go. Fun fact, the normal battle theme from this game is hidden in my favorite RPG on the PS1, Legend of Legaia! I'm not entirely sure why that song appears in a completely different game, but it does.

[WolfofWords]

I've been playing Witcher 3 (first playthrough), Steam Dig 2 (fourth playthrough), Hypnospace Outlaw (second playthrough), and Slime Rancher (second playthrough).

[CrazyCraftLady]

I've been playing phone games - Empires and Puzzles, and Matchington Mansion.

[WolfofWords]

I've also been playing Dislyte and Marvel Strike Force on my phone.

[WolfofWords]

[WolfofWords]

[WolfofWords]

Tom Clancy’s The Division (2016)

I remember seeing some gameplay of this online when it came out but nobody I knew was really playing it. I ultimately decided to pick it up because I was searching for looter shooter games similar to the Borderlands series. I am not a huge fan of first-person shooters but games like Borderlands and the later Fallout franchise have changed my mind a bit. The “looter shooter” has the player run around in a more or less open world and collect loot to slowly get stronger. I really like the ability to give up on a hard part and grind elsewhere. It helps with the frustration of difficult areas.

I have not played a lot of Tom Clancy games as they are usually too difficult or are outright propaganda for the military-industrial complex. This game did not push either of those buttons for me so I felt comfortable playing it. This game takes place in a New York City that has been hit with a bioengineered smallpox variant virus called The Dollar Flu. The sickness has quickly eradicated much of the population leading to a rapid breakdown in society. Your player is part of a civilian sleeper agent who is called up by the Strategic Homeland Division to assist a joint task force (JTF) of the military, police, firefighters, national guard, disaster relief organizations, and civilians.

The city has been divided up by the JTF and three gangs. The Rioters are garden-variety citizens upset by the state of things and are taking advantage by looting and hurting people. The Rikers are escaped prisoners from Rikers Island who are trying to take over sections of New York to establish a territory to prevent their return to prison. The Cleaners are disgruntled sanitation workers who have decided that the only solution is to burn anything and anybody deemed to be unclean instead of actually curing the virus. Eventually, the player discovers an independent militia run by JTF defectors called the Last Man Battalion. The player must fight everyone to obtain data on the virus to help find a cure.


Alba: A Wildlife Adventure (2020)

This is a super cute game that came out during the perfect time. There is no danger in this game and nothing physical to fight. You play as a young girl named Alba who is visiting her grandparents on the Spanish island they live on for the weekend during summer. As soon as she arrives, she finds that the local wildlife sanctuary is going to be bulldozed for a new high-rise hotel. Alba and her friend Ines resolve to save the sanctuary and get signatures for a petition. The game is played by searching for wildlife to take pictures of. Alba can also clean up trash and rescue wildlife from the folly of man. By repairing things on the island and raising awareness, Alba is eventually able to get the town to rally around the wildlife sanctuary and shame the mayor into rejecting the hotel. It has a great environmental message and accurately displays the majesty of nature and the ultimate goodness of human beings.



Dying Light (2015)

I believe I had seen gameplay of this one online and I actually got this game for free on the Epic Games Store. This is a first-person action survival game that pits the player against both humans and zombies. The main draw of this game is its commitment to its parkour system. The majority of zombies lack the cognitive and physical ability to climb so staying safe is often as easy as jumping from roof to roof. It takes some getting used to but the system really flows once you get the knack for it. The game also has a rich crafting system as you have to scrounge up items and weapons and sometimes combine them for more power. Your fellow survivors also need items that you can get as somebody able to survive outside of safe shelters.

You play as an undercover government agent of the Global Relief Effort (GRE) named Kyle Crane, an American dropped into the fictional Middle Eastern city of Harran. You are tasked with retrieving a file stolen by a rogue agent that could be used for blackmail. On arrival, Crane befriends the main group of survivors who are good people who are struggling to keep going while also helping a doctor amongst them study the virus. The virus causes people to become hyper-aggressive zombies until they devolve into slow-shambling zombies. Crane finds out that the local warlord has the file he was supposed to retrieve and sets out to take him out and retrieve the file.

I have not yet completed the game but Crane slowly rejects his posting and sympathizes with the good people of Harran. I am running into the GRE now turning against Crane in favor of a better deal which will probably end up being the warlord. The game had an amazing, slow progression which allowed me to adjust to new gameplay mechanics. It just recently threw me for a loop in the best way. The game predictably has a lot of great emotional beats that are terrifying, exhilarating, and touching.