I am slowly making my way through these games, just when I get the time.

Win 10: Doom Eternal, Project Cars 2, Mirror's Edge, Street Fighter 5, Dariusburst CS
Win 98: American McGee's Alice
DOS: Ultima VII, Turrican II
N64: Majora's Mask

Just finished Quake2 for the first time, last time played it seriously was in 1998! The end boss was disappointingly easy though.

Now onto another 1998 game I played but did not finish....Unreal 1 on a S3 Savage4 just so I can use another bespoke API...Metal with DXTC.

Have you ever played Pong using Sony Watchman FD-500? Very vintage feelings!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GeM63B5u_Q

I'm getting to the home stretch of Wizardry 8. I got the Destinae Dominus, am tying up a few loose ends in Arnika, then headed to the Rapax Rift and Ascension Peak to finish up this puppy. I'm 110 hours in and am guessing I'll need another 20 hours or so. My opinion is unchanged: This is one of the best, if not THE best RPG I've ever played. My only complaint is too much combat, but that can be mostly remedied by playing on Easy. Yes, combat=XP=more powerful characters, AND, the turn-based combat is so well done on this game that it's a pleasure to strategize each battle, but sometimes you just want to get to the next town ASAP. 🤣.

PSO2, finally.

Is it considered "retro gaming" to play a late-localized DX9-using* MMO from the early 2010s? 😀

also yes.

* - the "d3d9ex" parts seem optional, maybe there's potential in 200X battlestations playing this. 👀

badmojo wrote on 2020-08-07, 13:05:

Portal 2 here for some easy fun at the end of some tiring days - currently working from home full time and homeschooling the kids thanks to COVID. I was having a great time with this game but have past the point where the robots have their showdown and you fall into the retro 50's tests, which are less fun IMO. I might go back and play through Portal 1 again I remember enjoying that all the way through.

That's mostly because Portal 1 was short but you are also suffering from nostalgia goggles, rest assured Portal 1 is very rough in places as well.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-08-10, 10:28:

That's mostly because Portal 1 was short but you are also suffering from nostalgia goggles, rest assured Portal 1 is very rough in places as well.

I think you're right I had a play of P1 the other night and yeah it's fun but the timed puzzles gave me the shits and I stopped playing - I'm too old for fast-brain-hand-eye stuff. I'm back to Portal 2 now which is more thinky think than twitchy twitch - will be taking the advice around co-op, my daughter is keen 👍

FIFA 21 removing a lot of goal celebrations considered "toxic" by the new crying generation of players that don't know how to accept a defeat in a game... Come on...

I've even heard someone call Duke Nukem 3D a toxic game. Oh, how absurd this is...

Soon we will not be allowed to celebrate a goal in an online match...

... meanwhile, I will keep stuck with playing FIFA 98 and other vintage FIFA versions, just because EA hasn't removed these "toxic" celebrations from them. I see nothing wrong with these celebrations, a bit of provocation is a part of the game.

Bruninho wrote on 2020-08-12, 17:07:

I've even heard someone call Duke Nukem 3D a toxic game. Oh, how absurd this is...

It's true though. A few BUILD games are cursed and were always cursed. The Duke character was originally a parody of the 80s-90s narcisstic macho action hero type (more evident in Duke2), and by 3D, many sought him as babbys first videogame boobies viewing tough sweary man role model, especially when the console games happened by late 97 and GT's marketing.push was even wider. There's no denying the toxic masculinity present in DUke3D (which is cringe-inducingly turned to 11 in Forever)

Just know Duke3D to me wasn't defined by the character, but more of the fact it's Heretic. With guns. and a smooth sector moving engine. You can still enjoy the gameplay merits with the guy muted and the half-naked/naked women invisibled (terrible concept when there's still collision though).

leileilol wrote on 2020-08-13, 00:28:

(which is cringe-inducingly turned to 11 in Forever)

Yeah, some of Duke's quips in DNF are so massively out of place it feels almost psychotic. But that's not even the tip of the iceberg with the problems DNF has as a game, and of it's content.

I was never really hot-bothered by Duke3D's swearing, but the game does seem to punish you with enemy ambushes or other triggers if you harm the strippers/podgirls. Plus, Duke always sounds upset when it happens. (though it's the same lines that play when you get killed too)

Quake was always better anyway.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2020-08-13, 05:54:

Quake was always better anyway.

I think that is far from the consensus then or now. In reality they were equally important - quake for 3d advances and arguably music, dn3d for realistic level design, destructable environments and humor.

Should I play Arx Fatalis or Morrowind? I've got a big urge to get absorbed in literally any world that isn't my world right now!

gunman chronicles, I'd replayed half life (+OF and Blueshift) recently and as I had the CD for ages I thought it is worth a try. It's fun actually! weapons are very adjustable, maps are short enough not to have to backtrack, game mechanics work ok

Almoststew1990 wrote on 2020-08-13, 09:24:

Should I play Arx Fatalis or Morrowind? I've got a big urge to get absorbed in literally any world that isn't my world right now!

You can't go wrong with either, and either is likely to not stick if its not your thing equally. Arx Fatalis is more story driven , less open-ended if that helps you decide.

kolderman wrote on 2020-08-13, 08:06:

xcomcmdr wrote on 2020-08-13, 05:54:

Quake was always better anyway.

I think that is far from the consensus then or now. In reality they were equally important - quake for 3d advances and arguably music, dn3d for realistic level design, destructable environments and humor.

Half-Life's pretty much the progressive amalgamation of both in many ways (including hiring some talented folk involving both), leaving Duke behind only as a macho shit franchise for years to come.

Almoststew1990 wrote on 2020-08-13, 09:24:

Should I play Arx Fatalis or Morrowind? I've got a big urge to get absorbed in literally any world that isn't my world right now!

Morrowind has the bigger immersive world with an annoying buggy engine. Arx Fatalis is a huge and interesting dungeon with great gameplay. AF is basically Ultima Underworld 3. I find classic Morrowind rather grating tbh, AF still holds up.

I finished off Portal 2 tonight, flanked by my kids who loved the humour and (sort of) the puzzles. Great final sequence, oh how we laughed!

I must admit that I googled the answer to one of the later puzzles but we managed the rest - a good level of difficulty I thought, and a cogitative challenge for the most part, not hand-eye which was appreciated.

badmojo wrote on 2020-08-16, 11:46:

I finished off Portal 2 tonight, flanked by my kids who loved the humour and (sort of) the puzzles. Great final sequence, oh how we laughed!

I must admit that I googled the answer to one of the later puzzles but we managed the rest - a good level of difficulty I thought, and a cogitative challenge for the most part, not hand-eye which was appreciated.

Portal 1 and 2 are on my playlist, but I keep putting them off for some reason. Glad to hear the hand-eye skill requirements aren't too high! 🤣.

I'm currently in the Rapax Rift in Wizardry 8. I ended up destroying the T'rang mothership which means I can't complete the alliance quest, but oh well, I tend to be a "good guy" in RPGs so I'd rather support the Umpani than the T'rang. I'm 123 hrs in and hoping to finish this game in another 10 hrs or so. I'm averaging about 8 hrs a week, so that might be another 2 weeks.

My current thoughts are to play Bioshock Remastered next. But Tomb Raider 2013 and Metro: Last Light are also in the running!

Portal 1 and 2 are in my top 10 games there a ton of fun. I've played through them quite a few times