What are you playing right now?

[Nakor]

Picked up Don't Starve on Steam. It's actually a really fun survival game with great art and character. The name of the game is "Don't Starve" but it's really "Don't Starve or Go Insane or Get Killed by Giant Spiders or Rabid Dogs, or..." lol. You try to stock up enough in the summer to survive through the winter, and then spend the rest of the summer time exploring the island you're stuck on, trying both to improve your situation and also maybe find a way off.

There is a sort of "ending" to it -- in sandbox mode (the default mode) you can find a door that leads to "adventure mode" which is a series of survival scenarios with an ongoing storyline that eventually reveals what's going on. That's sort of the 'endgame' so to speak. But even if you finish that, you can continue playing that run in sandbox mode after you're done the adventure mode story. Having not found adventure mode on my character yet, I can't speak much to how it is.

There's also a way -- if you find all the necessary bits and pieces -- to escape your current island to a new one. This is how the game lets you deal with finite, non-renewable resources (like stone or flint).

I also picked up Humble Bundle 8. I played through Thomas Was Alone -- it's a really neat game with a rather cute storyline and great narration. It does, in fact, manage to give coloured rectangles a lot of character. It is neither challenging nor long, but as part of a by-donation bundle, it's totally worth it. I also intend to try out Awesomenauts at some point, but haven't had the chance. (And now they've added four new games to the bundle -- I haven't checked those out either!)

[soloist]

I was just going to post the contents of that bundle (laughs). I'm glad
to learn you were able to invest in it, Nakor. Some nice finds we-
re available via that bundle. Awesomenauts is a fun 2D action-
n/MOBA-esque platformer that I've wanted to try out for s-
ome time now, though I doubt that I will. Don't Starve
seems interesting. I didn't know that there was a r-
eal ending to this game. I thought the goal was
just to survive as long as you could only to r-
each a new island and have to repeat the
process, etc. The fact that there's ano-
ther gameplay mode makes it that
much more interesting. Quite t-
he humorous titles you've sel-
ected for Don't Starve (lau-
ghs). It's true though be-
cause not starving is
only one aspect o-
f the game. I'll
see if I can l-
arn more
about:

(Thomas Was Alone)

s-
ince
I've hear-
d of the gam-
e but beyond the
title I'm clueless of it.
I'm still playing Dragon's D-
ogma, though I haven't had th-
e chance to play in a few days now.

(hopefully tomorrow...)

[Nakor]

According to Steam I played Thomas Was Alone for two hours, and that was enough to beat it, and get all but four achievements. If you're strapped for time, it's definitely a good fit, broken up into small, individual levels and with a short overall play time.

[soloist]

Oh, well since THAT'S the case, I
guess I'll check it out when I
get the chance. Oh, and
if I can pull myself a-
way from Dragon's
Dogma (which
will be a ch-
allenge i-
n itse-
lf).



(Thanks for the info, Nakor!)

[soloist]

By the way, Roemello... did
you get Dark Arisen or t-
he standard Dragon's
Dogma? I ask bec-
ause the entir-
e original g-
ame is a-
vailab-
le o-
n
the
Dark A-
risen disc,
so you would-
n't need to pick u-
p Dragon's Dogma if t-
his is your first time playi-
ng. If you've already purchase-
d Dragon's Dogma (the original), it
would be best to trade it in to get Da-
rk Arisen because you don't even have to
get to the Dark Arisen content initially. You
can play the standard game and will even get s-
ome perks eventually such as an Eternal Ferrystone
which will left you fast travel as often as you'd like, an-
d bonus weaponry to name a few. Also, DA only costs $40.

(aka $39.99 plus tax...)

[KenseidenXL]

Persona 4

[soloist]

Now that's a game and series that I've yet to play
even though I own a few entries. Have you t-
ried out the fighter based on this series
called Persona Arena? It has been s-
aid that fans of the series woul-
d be able to appreciate the
homage it pays to the s-
eries on so many di-
fferent levels.
I'm still pl-
aying:

-Dragon's Dogma (360)...

[Nakor]

Now playing Fortune Summoners -- finally. (How long have I owned this?) It's a rather fun game, actually, although right at the first boss I can see it's going to be one of those typical Japanese Action-RPG games where regular enemies are no problem, but the boss immediately demolishes you lol. Same thing in Ys for instance.

[soloist]

I've not heard of Fortune Summoners,
but I'll look into it when given t-
he next opportunity to do s-
o. It's funny that I curre-
nt own a few Y's gam-
es but haven't pla-
yed any of the-
m to date.
I'm stil-
l try-
ing to m-
ake time for
more Dogma tim-
e, though I want to g-
et Animal Crossing New L-
eaf and get started on it, but
only time will tell if this happens.

[soloist]

I was finally able to pick up Animal Crossing
New Leaf for the 3DS and that's what I h-
ave been playing for a while now. Dr-
agon's Dogma is taking a rest, tho-
ugh I plan on getting back on i-
t to explore the DLC conten-
t (aka Blackwater Isle). I
am still at level 100 i-
n that game, so no
real progress ha-
ve been made
since then.
Just ear-
ning B-
ells:

(in Animal Crossing: New Leaf...)

[Roemello]

Still on Dragon's Dogma myself... level 50 and finding the Magick Archer to be faaaaar better than the ranger.... kicking a lot more ass with that vocation!

[soloist]

I agree with your take on the Magic Archer. I've learned this the hard way
though after having trouble making progress with the fighter skill tha-
t I've chosen initially. I didn't like the idea of needing to change ar-
rows for the ranger class and after seeing how my brother was
using the magic archer class, I thought it would be more su-
itable for my play-style. His coordination is off a bit, so
he struggled with it, but when I tried it, the style fe-
lt natural... so I've been such ever since. The mag-
ic shots prevent gamers from having to assign a-
rrows and you needn't worry about running o-
ut of arrows; just make sure your magic s-
tays up (via restoratives). The next tim-
e I play, I'm going to Blackwater Isle
which is where the Dark Arisen c-
ontent takes place. By the wa-
y, did you pick up Dark Aris-
en or the standard versio-
n of Dragon's Dogma, R-
oemello? Just curiou-
s. For now, though,
I'm still earning b-
ells in Animal C-
rossing New L-
eaf and cre-
ating a fe-
w attra-
ction-
s to-
o.



(What is everyone playing these days?)

[KenseidenXL]

Still working a bit on SOCOM-Combined Assault.

[Roemello]

I just got the standard version... it's all I could find available out here. I'll probably get it, though with how much I'm enjoying the main game. I'm at the point after the big dragon fight... just kicked the Dukes ass and fell down the everfall... fighting my way through that.

[soloist]

Good luck with your progress in SOCOM: Combined
Assault. Have you made any significant progre-
ss since your last post? Just curious. Congr-
atulations on getting that far, Roemell-
o. I'm at that point myself but neve-
r left Everfall since it's a loot-fe-
st for rare items. I'll probably
get past that point one da-
y, but not now (laughs).
What did you think a-
bout the new ene-
mies, rather, t-
he revised e-
nemies? I-
nterest-
ing, h-
uh?



B-
y the
way, the
last SOCOM
game I've play-
ed was SOCOM 3 o-
n the PS2, but I didn't
get too far in it. I thorou-
ghly played part two though.
Do you the previous versions of
SOCOM at all, Kenseiden? Part two
was considered the best of the series
during that era; especially the online p-
ortion from my understanding which I've n-
ever played... just the campaign mode or sin-
gle player mode (whichever title is the better fit).