What are you playing?

 

Winding down and finally relaxing to Story of Seasons. It's not a very fast-paced game, which is perfect for me right now *_*

I said I would never do it, but never say never they never say ever.

Spoiler for Spoilers:

I'm having a bad time.

I don't understand all the hysteria and praise for this game. I wouldn't say it's a bad game by any means but I'm seeing a lot of people say it's one of the best games of all time. I mean, a lot of those people are tumblrites, so their opinion is automatically invalid, but still, why is this game revered so highly? It's really not that great and in a month or so people are going to completely forget it exists.

I don't understand all the hysteria and praise for this game. I wouldn't say it's a bad game by any means but I'm seeing a lot of people say it's one of the best games of all time. I mean, a lot of those people are tumblrites, so their opinion is automatically invalid, but still, why is this game revered so highly? It's really not that great and in a month or so people are going to completely forget it exists.

i think a lot of the praise for Undertale comes from the circumstance. if Undertale was released in the mid-90s, as a contemporary of its ultimate inspiration of Earthbound, it would probably just be considered a solid game with a compelling cast of quirky characters, and it would get some praise for the way combat is handled.
but it wasn't released in 1994, it was released in 2015, in a time when so many of the most successful games have so little meaning or charm to them; in the day when the first-person-shooter and the third-person-action-(sandbox)-extravaganza reign supreme. we are just now coming out of a period of mass-produced spunk-gargle-wee-wee, and Undertale is a reminder of the nuance that can be achieved in the medium of video games.

Undertale doesn't have the best story, or the best mechanics, or (quite obviously) the best graphics. few games manage to have all of these things. but Undertale is remarkable for its charm - it oozes character from every orifice. i doubt it will be shortly forgotten, but i do agree that it is not one of the best games ever. it will live on as a proud homage to the Mother franchise, and a charmingly intricate and compassionate game, but in twenty years we'll still be talking about Earthbound - i'm not so sure about Undertale.

i dunno though, that's just me. i'm not a tumblrette though so my opinion at least has base validity.

That makes sense as a perspective from outside the RM* community, but possessing old-school charm isn't really enough to make my eyes light up given some of the games this community has generated over the years.

I don't understand all the hysteria and praise for this game. I wouldn't say it's a bad game by any means but I'm seeing a lot of people say it's one of the best games of all time. I mean, a lot of those people are tumblrites, so their opinion is automatically invalid, but still, why is this game revered so highly? It's really not that great and in a month or so people are going to completely forget it exists.

i think a lot of the praise for Undertale comes from the circumstance. if Undertale was released in the mid-90s, as a contemporary of its ultimate inspiration of Earthbound, it would probably just be considered a solid game with a compelling cast of quirky characters, and it would get some praise for the way combat is handled.
but it wasn't released in 1994, it was released in 2015, in a time when so many of the most successful games have so little meaning or charm to them; in the day when the first-person-shooter and the third-person-action-(sandbox)-extravaganza reign supreme. we are just now coming out of a period of mass-produced spunk-gargle-wee-wee, and Undertale is a reminder of the nuance that can be achieved in the medium of video games.

Undertale doesn't have the best story, or the best mechanics, or (quite obviously) the best graphics. few games manage to have all of these things. but Undertale is remarkable for its charm - it oozes character from every orifice. i doubt it will be shortly forgotten, but i do agree that it is not one of the best games ever. it will live on as a proud homage to the Mother franchise, and a charmingly intricate and compassionate game, but in twenty years we'll still be talking about Earthbound - i'm not so sure about Undertale.

i dunno though, that's just me. i'm not a tumblrette though so my opinion at least has base validity.

But that's like saying Shovel Knight was only praised because it was released in 2014 and not 1989. There is a mild truth to that due to the game being an intentional throwback. But Shovel Knight was received well mostly due to its gameplay and the fact that it's a fun game that holds up well even when compared to those NES games it's imitating (and even surpasses like Ducktales and shit), while Undertale is a cheap imitation of Earthbound. Undertale being released in 2015 doesn't make it more special imo. I guess whether or not it's charming is up to personal taste (personally I think it has its moments but it isn't all that remarkable in regards to charm).

I get why it's liked, I don't get why it's loved so fervently. It just seems like another indie flavor-of-the-month-or-two game. But yes, your opinion has validity. I'm not saying anyone who thinks it's great is automatically wrong, I just don't understand.

Undertale is a cheap imitation of Earthbound.

le trolled by le master prankster!!!

oh man I thought I was the troll master but I was wrong

I get why it's liked, I don't get why it's loved so fervently. It just seems like another indie flavor-of-the-month-or-two game. But yes, your opinion has validity. I'm not saying anyone who thinks it's great is automatically wrong, I just don't understand.

don't worry, it's probably just because you're a sour old man who doesn't get what all the kids these days are on about

You're probably right because I don't understand why Justin Bieber is so well-liked amongst you kids, either.

oh shit am i old too

I love undertale.
It's just that sometimes a game really strums the right cords, really touches the notes on the right key. (For you music people )
Some other games that struck a similar cord were (for me at least) OFF, Cave Story and Lisa:The Painful/The Joyful.

The right mix of characters and noface npcs. The right balance of strange and normal. Then you add some funny and sad.
Also I could just have really bad taste, no clue.

Fo y'all to judge my taste for yourself, here are my my 5 favorite games of ever (roughly in this order) are Dark Souls, Cave Story, Undertale, OFF and Lisa.

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKOah18x0g" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTKOah18x0g</a>

Metal gear was supposed to be the best Story driven game this year. Fallout was supposed to be right behind it. The only one I feel did a good job of being a great game with a great story was The Witcher 3. If you told me last year I'd think a Witcher game would be higher on my list than entries from kojima and bethesda, I'd have asked you to lay off the drugs.

I like Cave Story a lot but honestly I got a little bored with it by the time I got near the end so I never bothered to finish it. But it's definitely a great game.

Metal gear was supposed to be the best Story driven game this year. Fallout was supposed to be right behind it. The only one I feel did a good job of being a great game with a great story was The Witcher 3. If you told me last year I'd think a Witcher game would be higher on my list than entries from kojima and bethesda, I'd have asked you to lay off the drugs.

Fallout games have never been particularly story-driven. The main character speaks in Fallout 4, but the story isn't really any deeper than it has been in the other entries. Because they're sandboxes, the elegance of the Fallout games (especially Fallout 3 onwards) is that they manage tell hundreds of small stories using very limited exposition. The stories that play out amongst the world's pre-war and post-war inhabitants via small things like terminal entries and holotapes and diaries and object placement are pretty eloquent at times, painting a broad picture with very little. There are so many unmarked, non-quest related stories that you can find in the Fallout games that are really clever, short-stories and I think they more than make up for the lack of a central storyline because they make the world feel very, very alive. The post-Fallout 3 games certainly wouldn't work without them, because they're a large part of what makes exploring the wasteland entertaining and interesting.

But yeah, expecting the game to be story-driven as far as the central plot goes? That's never been the case nor the intention. It's a sandbox, it's much more about world-building than the central plot.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

Any of y'all played the Stalker games?
Really liking it so far. (10hrs in)

Right now I'm getting a team ready to go to pripyat.

If you haven't played them, holy shit these games are 2SPOOPY4ME.

hey who cares but here are my top five of 2015. it was a pretty phenomenal year, it was fun and crazy and creators just let loose. a lot of games on all sides had so much passion put in to them. there are a lot of themes at play, and it's great to see how well an emotionally-driven game can perform in this era, which i thought would be saturated with emotionless brown shooters. it was a joyful surprise of a year.

Spoiler for 5:

5. rainbow six siege is fucking brilliant, and it's the most fun i've had with a shooter in a very long time. it's got shoddy UI and terrible netcode, but good golly, i don't care. generally, i tend to despise multi-player shooters, but i have a soft spot for CS and Payday, and this game feels like their love-child. and the community, which is the thing i always hate the most about these games, is lovely, and i hope it stays the way it is.

Spoiler for 4:

4. super mario maker is such a dumb shitstorm and nothing on it makes sense and it's the best game nintendo released in 2015, maybe even a year or two before that. it's full of dumb kids making shitty "DDA" levels and weird japanese people filling their levels with their crazy culture, but in the midst of it all are some levels which outshine nintendo's own level design. there is so much that can be done and crafted in this game, it shows the full creative potential of a giant audience. and dumb DDA spectacle levels.

Spoiler for 3:

3. undertale is great. i can talk with no end about the wicked branching story system (which is achieved by presenting choices to the player through its innate gameplay, which is fucking rad and we need to see more of it), but even such a well-executed mechanic as that would fall flat on a hollow game. undertale is anything but flat though, and that fact is owed to the character and charm it spews out at you. it's so silly and creative, but also introspective and commentative. it takes the look and feel of the mother games, and applies a haunting spec ops-esque message to it. i've seen a lot of people play it, and every one of them has had an emotional attachment to this game in one way or another.

Spoiler for honourable mention:

2.5 (hon. mention) the binding of isaac: afterbirth (doesn't really count because it's DLC but i just like talking about isaac, and i didn't make a list last year and i need to put rebirth on something)

Spoiler for 2:

2. i am in love with lovecraft and cosmic horror. jumpscares are dumb, and while i can appreciate the craft of games like FNAF, i just can't sink my teeth in to jumpscares like i can with lovecraftian horror. i always get excited when i hear a game is flirting with cosmic horror, and the way bloodborne descends from the easy facade of bram stoker witches and vampires to the overwhelmingly deep implications of cosmic horror. coupled with the tried and true complexity of gameplay and ambiguity of story explored in the Souls series, bloodborne is going to be a standout game for years to come. another great work in to cosmic horror in 2015 is the consuming shadow, a rogue-like-ish quest, presented as a puzzle to stop cultists from summoning a great demonic alien god. it's Yahtzee Croshaw's best game, and a neat look (when compared to bloodborne) at the different ways cosmic horror can be handled in games.

Spoiler for 1:

1. keep talking and nobody explodes straddles the line between party and hardcore gaming so well, and it's impossible not to have fun with it no matter how you're playing it. it's exactly what i love about games - simple concept, deep gameplay, and it even ticks the box of being a great innovative use for new technology (not that i'll be buying an oculus for it though lol). i know it's quite removed from the other games on this list, but that's the thing with this game: it is so different. it's such a bizarre game, there's nothing quite like it, it's intense and it's funny and i just want to play it with all of my friends to see the different ways people play it. it's the most unique, curious and interesting game this year.

okay

man, I wish i could say the same
like the things about being happy with the games released this year

I guess I'll make a list to, so i can be a cool person too

Spoiler for:

5.
4.
3. Dark Souls 2 SOTFS (I wouldn't put it on the list if I wasn't just using it to fill a slot... ,_,)
2. Mario Maker (Would have forgotten this if you hadn't put it in your list.)
1. Undertale (GOTY all years, goty all time. GOAT)

Spoiler for:

Not really, if Dark Souls 1 had been released this year it would be #1. I prefer Dark Souls over Undertale.

okay you're cool now good for you

yeah

i'm happy there were games that you enjoyed
just wish there had been more games for my kind

at first i was like
then i was like

Batman: Arkham Knight

Ohgod ohgod ohgod love it <3

My brother coaxed me into playing FIFA 16 so I've been playing a bit of that. Also Football Manager and Underrail, the latter of which is far better than the game whose name it rhymes with.

shur thing bud ( -w-)