For those who like to achieve a bit, there's now a RetroAchievements set for the PS2 version of everyone's favorite monkey island

I started playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007) on my eWaste XP build a little over a month ago. This is the most modern game I've ever played! The dynamic lighting looks impressive! So far, I've made it about halfway through the game, and it seems to get better the more I progress. I really like the atmosphere and surroundings of the game. The dark underground labs are really creepy. The story is a bit shallow, and I wish it had bigger guns. Those are my only complaints. But I'm having fun!

Lodge_ wrote on 2024-06-06, 09:05:

I started playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007) on my eWaste XP build a little over a month ago. This is the most m […]
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I started playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007) on my eWaste XP build a little over a month ago. This is the most modern game I've ever played! The dynamic lighting looks impressive! So far, I've made it about halfway through the game, and it seems to get better the more I progress. I really like the atmosphere and surroundings of the game. The dark underground labs are really creepy. The story is a bit shallow, and I wish it had bigger guns. Those are my only complaints. But I'm having fun!

Excellent choice. I played through this game a couple of years ago and had a blast. If you're interested in my comments on the game, you can read them on pages 185-191 of this thread.

I've got Call of Pripyat on my shortlist now. I hope to get to it this year sometime.

Project I.G.I
I was not expecting the game to take so long, mostly because of the insanely big maps and much trekking going on, good shooting, nice visuals for the time but it can be really unforgiving, i thought it was going to be a quick game for my return streaming but hell was i wrong...
It makes for a good challenge though, especially since you can't save at all.

Lodge_ wrote on 2024-06-06, 09:05:

The story is a bit shallow, and I wish it had bigger guns. […]
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The story is a bit shallow, and I wish it had bigger guns.

I love the STALKER games. They are unmatched when it comes to atmosphere! If you want bigger guns due to the enemies being bullet spongy, I believe that's affected by the difficulty settings. A lot of people play at lower difficulties for that reason. There's probably a mod that would let you play at at a higher difficulty without it being a problem.

I also love the rest of the series. The second one was released too early and many people dislike it. Personally, I liked it and had an amazing time with the faction wars mod.

clueless1 wrote on 2024-06-06, 10:02:

Lodge_ wrote on 2024-06-06, 09:05:

I started playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007) on my eWaste XP build

Excellent choice. I played through this game a couple of years ago and had a blast. If you're interested in my comments on the game, you can read them on pages 185-191 of this thread.

I agree with your comments! The optional missions are confusing usually. So far i've only completed a few easy ones. And what am I supposed to do with those artifacts that you're able to collect from the ground?

Ensign Nemo wrote on 2024-06-07, 01:16:

I love the STALKER games. They are unmatched when it comes to atmosphere! If you want bigger guns due to the enemies being bullet spongy, I believe that's affected by the difficulty settings. A lot of people play at lower difficulties for that reason. There's probably a mod that would let you play at at a higher difficulty without it being a problem.
I also love the rest of the series. The second one was released too early and many people dislike it. Personally, I liked it and had an amazing time with the faction wars mod.

Yes! I love the bleakness of the game. I saw the mod for the guns too. I think i'll try it for fun when I've finished the game. Yes, the enemies are very difficult to kill sometimes. Even the dogs can take two shotgun blasts.

I'll definitely play Clear Sky after this one!

iraito wrote on 2024-06-06, 14:09:

Project I.G.I
I was not expecting the game to take so long, mostly because of the insanely big maps and much trekking going on, good shooting, nice visuals for the time but it can be really unforgiving, i thought it was going to be a quick game for my return streaming but hell was i wrong...
It makes for a good challenge though, especially since you can't save at all.

oh yes, that one is difficult - needs some thought as blasting away wont work. i remember it as looking good, playing well and being somewhat frustrating. it does go on a long time too

gerry wrote on 2024-06-07, 10:46:

iraito wrote on 2024-06-06, 14:09:

Project I.G.I
I was not expecting the game to take so long, mostly because of the insanely big maps and much trekking going on, good shooting, nice visuals for the time but it can be really unforgiving, i thought it was going to be a quick game for my return streaming but hell was i wrong...
It makes for a good challenge though, especially since you can't save at all.

oh yes, that one is difficult - needs some thought as blasting away wont work. i remember it as looking good, playing well and being somewhat frustrating. it does go on a long time too

I have been stuck on the last level for a total of 5 hours, obviously it made for an entertaining watch for the people tuning in but oh mah God the game gets totally unfair at the end.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
I played this for a couple more hours completing some side-quests to prepare for the next step in the main quest. This game is just awesome. I ended up really liking PoE1, but this game is just something else.

My greatest annoyances with PoE1 were all of the boring combat, and how 99% of the game felt completely disconnected from the actual plot. PoE2, in contrast has much less (but much more interesting) combat, and while 99% of the game has nothing to do with the plot, you spend that time doing jobs for several factions with their own storylines. Following these quest lines is so much more satisfying than just randomly exploring maps like in PoE1, so ignoring the main quest feels natural instead of weird.

It's possible that this is just a case of a game that does everything I want from an RPG, but the mix of stat-heavy character development, faction stuff, and open world sailing is just perfect. You can start the game up wanting to put hours into following the main quest, or just spend 15 minutes sailing around the world looking for stuff; either way, you'll have a blast.

iraito wrote on 2024-06-07, 10:51:

gerry wrote on 2024-06-07, 10:46:

iraito wrote on 2024-06-06, 14:09:

Project I.G.I
I was not expecting the game to take so long, mostly because of the insanely big maps and much trekking going on, good shooting, nice visuals for the time but it can be really unforgiving, i thought it was going to be a quick game for my return streaming but hell was i wrong...
It makes for a good challenge though, especially since you can't save at all.

oh yes, that one is difficult - needs some thought as blasting away wont work. i remember it as looking good, playing well and being somewhat frustrating. it does go on a long time too

I have been stuck on the last level for a total of 5 hours, obviously it made for an entertaining watch for the people tuning in but oh mah God the game gets totally unfair at the end.

i admit i never got to the end, an now i'm thinking i wont try again 😀 might want a playthrough of the bits i missed though!

newtmonkey wrote on 2024-06-07, 15:14:

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire I played this for a couple more hours completing some side-quests to prepare for the next step […]
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Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
I played this for a couple more hours completing some side-quests to prepare for the next step in the main quest. This game is just awesome. I ended up really liking PoE1, but this game is just something else.

My greatest annoyances with PoE1 were all of the boring combat, and how 99% of the game felt completely disconnected from the actual plot. PoE2, in contrast has much less (but much more interesting) combat, and while 99% of the game has nothing to do with the plot, you spend that time doing jobs for several factions with their own storylines. Following these quest lines is so much more satisfying than just randomly exploring maps like in PoE1, so ignoring the main quest feels natural instead of weird.

It's possible that this is just a case of a game that does everything I want from an RPG, but the mix of stat-heavy character development, faction stuff, and open world sailing is just perfect. You can start the game up wanting to put hours into following the main quest, or just spend 15 minutes sailing around the world looking for stuff; either way, you'll have a blast.

You're really making me want to play this game. 😀 I've still got a bit to go on MM3, but so many options are open for my next one...

gerry wrote on 2024-06-07, 16:03:

iraito wrote on 2024-06-07, 10:51:

gerry wrote on 2024-06-07, 10:46:

oh yes, that one is difficult - needs some thought as blasting away wont work. i remember it as looking good, playing well and being somewhat frustrating. it does go on a long time too

I have been stuck on the last level for a total of 5 hours, obviously it made for an entertaining watch for the people tuning in but oh mah God the game gets totally unfair at the end.

i admit i never got to the end, an now i'm thinking i wont try again 😀 might want a playthrough of the bits i missed though!

Don't, i think i lost what little sanity i had by beating the last level...

clueless1 wrote on 2024-06-07, 17:07:

You're really making me want to play this game. 😀 I've still got a bit to go on MM3, but so many options are open for my next one...

I really recommend it! It's a massive improvement over the first game in every way, and I think you'll like the turn-based combat mode. 😀
Likewise, I've been reading your updates on M&MIII and really want to get back to that one sometime. First, though, I really need to get into the mood to play and finish M&MII... anyway, I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts on M&MIII once you finish it!

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis

This one is pretty interesting, a game from 1992 that has:

- Three different paths through the game that have different solutions to many puzzles: Wits, Team and Fists
- Randomized puzzles that differ a bit from game to game
- Three different endings, bad, not too great and good determined by your actions at the end

Wits has Indy solving puzzles by himself, Team has you cooperating with your partner Sophie and Fists is a low puzzle/high action style with simplified puzzles and more fists fights and apparently even chase scenes. I say apparently because I've never once played the game in Fists mode as I like my complicated puzzles and fist fighting in the game is not particularly amazing. Though their presence in a point and click adventure is kinda funny.

This is the earliest game I know that offers this kind of content altering replayability and I find it pretty damn impressive and forward thinking. But I'm afraid it came with a cost. I don't know was the deveploment team short on time, or is this another case of a secondary team trying to do their best or bit of both, but after replaying it now I have pretty mixed feelings about it.

First of all even though it's pretty short game there's a lot of padding, which can be seen even in some puzzle designs. In one you need to get a random item from a merchant by exchange until you find the item that another merchant would accept in exchange for another item you need. In another puzzle you need to find a specific person on a street by randomly stopping passersby. Fly a hot air balloon over a desert with janky controls stopping to ask directions until you find your destination. Things that are not hard but take time. The last area of the game is the worst of it, it's less of a test of puzzle solving skills and more of a test of patience.

There's also two fairly large labyrints in it, which in itself isn't anything new since both their previous games Monkey 1&2 had them, the difference is that in both Monkey Islands there's directions through them which you need to find and figure out, while in Indy there's no directions. You have to do them the hard way, with time and trial and error. It's not what I would consider fun.

The general quality of the puzzles in the game can also be a bit all over the place, ranging from good to WTF.

I know I'm painting a fairly negative picture here, but even with its faults it's not a bad game. I believe it reviewed very well at the time and I personally really liked it back in the day. I still enjoyed parts of it like the part where you muck about in a nazi U-boat. Also even though the game is not exactly the high point of story telling it still manages to feel a bit like Indiana Jones at times.

So as a game from 1992 I do think it's a good game, it just hasn't aged as well as some of its LucasArts siblings in my opinion. But I can see a lot of untapped potential through the cracks, if someone were to completely remake one of the LucasArts adventures I think this would be an excellent choice.

Recommended to be served with a healthy dose of nostalgia. Supplement with a full pint of patience and season with "it's a videogame from 1992, don't worry about it" if required.

Sombrero wrote on 2024-06-11, 11:22:

Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
Fists is a low puzzle/high action style with simplified puzzles and more fists fights and apparently even chase scenes. I say apparently because I've never once played the game in Fists mode as I like my complicated puzzles

The fist way is actually the one you should like the most cause it has so difficult puzzles that the only way to skip them is by fight. But of course you don't have to fight at all just use your brain 😀
Ok, the puzzles are not difficult, but this way is the only one that allows skipping puzzles by a fight. Team and wit ways do not allow that. But Team allows asking Sofia for tips everywhere. Wit doesn't allow fighting your way through, and no Sofia to help.

Fists -> you can fight through puzzles
Team -> you can ask Sofia for tips
Wit -> you are on your own

The beginning of game - I mean till you make a choice of way, you are allowed to either fight or ask sophia or solve puzzles without any help.

I recommend playing all 3 ways more than playing any other game.

robertmo3 wrote on 2024-06-11, 12:33:

The fist way is actually the one you should like the most cause it has so difficult puzzles that the only way to skip them is by fight.

Every comment I've seen online contradicts that, saying the Wits path is the one to take for puzzles and Fists having some streamlining.

I have played the game all 3 ways so i know what i write about.
If someone just fight his way through, without solving puzzles than of course he doesn't know you don't have to fight

also if someone plays the game with a solution (or trying everything on everything) than he says puzzles are stupid, cause he haven't found/figured out the tips.

I played "Heli-Jeep!" long enough for this to happen.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire
It's been a little while since I've played some computer games. It's now summer in the newtmonkey caves, so I've been spending my evenings in the living area, which is well ventilated and cool at night, rather than the computer area, which builds up heat during the day and doesn't cool down until late at night. That means I've been playing console games lately, though I don't talk about those here (I've been playing a lot of Final Fantasy IX).

Anyway, it suddenly got very cool again, so I'm back to playing PoEII, and it's still great. One thing that would normally annoy me but actually is very cool is that the game ranks the difficulty of every quest and side quest based on, I guess, your average party level. You can bring up the quest log, and either go around completing stuff that's easy until you bring the difficulty level of the main quest down, or attempt the main quest even though you are "underleveled." Because there's so much involved with the game, you can often handily clear quests ranked above your level through good use of tactics and abilities. In other words, all this does is just save you from wasting time throwing yourself at something difficult if you don't want to deal with it, and yet allows you to do so if you want the challenge. It's genius.

Even though the game is very modern with regard to how it plays and looks, it's still got the classic RPG loop of exploring, leveling up, finding loot, and returning to town to sell stuff and buy better stuff. It just also adds a bunch of faction stuff and truly nonlinear open-world sailing exploration. It's just full of stuff to do, and so far, all of it is good.

Every modern Baldur's Gate "clone" has some weird minigame or something, and in PoEII it's sailing. This requires resources, and you need to keep your crew fed and happy. What I did was buy 500 units of the cheapest food and drink first chance I got, so I wouldn't have to worry about it. Crew morale will drop with this stuff, but it's fine at first because you can increase morale by boarding enemy ships and sharing spoils. Once you start making decent money a few hours in, you can buy better food and drink for your crew, which will increase morale each day. It's something that will doom you if you don't pay attention to it, but if you take care of it early on, you don't really have to worry much about it.