I've been recently playing NBA 2K24 with my brother on PlayStation 5.

Also "dusted off" the NBA Live '97. I played it on Windows 95 PC back in the day. It must have been one of the first computer games I ever played. Trying out DOS version for the first time in DOSBox-X. I have PS5 controller plugged to the PC (with DualSenseX running in the background - not really needed for this it seems), the game then shows joystick on the screen where you assign which device will control the desired team. Who knew it would work through emulator, it's magic!

I kinda suck at it, 🤣! It's quite something, especially for 1996. The game plays itself if you leave it alone.

"Dusted off" because the original CD is nowhere to be found, so had to rely on the well known digital archive. There used to be everything, the CD, the box, the manual (in German I think). But since it was my brother's...it's gone along with the black-white GameBoy console. 🙁

UCyborg wrote on 2025-10-30, 21:55:

Also "dusted off" the NBA Live '97. I played it on Windows 95 PC back in the day. It must have been one of the first computer games I ever played. Trying out DOS version for the first time in DOSBox-X. I have PS5 controller plugged to the PC (with DualSenseX running in the background - not really needed for this it seems), the game then shows joystick on the screen where you assign which device will control the desired team. Who knew it would work through emulator, it's magic!

What a coincidence! I just played it last night (and it's a game I probably play a couple of times a year nowadays, tops).

It was the first NBA game I got exposed to (it is also the last one that works under DOS). Compared to some of the later versions (even '98) it is a bit clunky, but I love it. I never got the patience to play through a season, though - so I just play exhibition games with a custom team 'Slammers' I created with some of my favorite players at the time.

UCyborg wrote on 2025-10-30, 21:55:

I kinda suck at it, 🤣! It's quite something, especially for 1996. The game plays itself if you leave it alone.

I never got really good either, but I figured out that the dumb strategy of trying to get a player into a clear shot as close as possible to the basket tends to work most of the times and allows me to win most games, even on 'all star' difficulty. I play either 3-minute or 5-minute quarters; everything else takes too long. The game's shot probability calculations are screwed up in some ways. If you're ahead against the CPU towards the end of the game, some of its players on some teams start shooting threepointers almost without miss. I never found out if this would work the same for me if I was behind and had to catch up.

The only other one I played was NBA Live 2003, I remember playing through the season on this one. I briefly remember 2006 version, which felt more life-like with more varied player animations. It might have been a bit too much for GeForce4 MX 440. 😁 I see the Live series' sales suffered, probably due to its competitor NBA 2K series.

Not sure which one I should try next at some point on PC from either series since there are so many of them.

Regarding '97, I apparently messed with Windows version at some point since I have an entry in my custom compatibility database. Might be buggy. I see it doesn't have any entry on PCGamingWiki. DOS version surprisingly works OK in emulator. Surprisingly because this computer sucks at emulating anything decent. Maybe this game's requirements are so low?

Another thing to note, don't leave PS5 controller plugged to a sleeping PC. The battery got almost completely depleted throughout the night... Are these USB devices just weird or is it my aging PC?

The place I work at sold some USB devices in the past that didn't do something required by USB-C standard. So if you plugged it to the host's USB-C rather than USB-A (the connector on the device's side is C), it wouldn't power up at all.

Still on Dark Souls. The experience is a lot better now that I'm playing the remaster on Steam. A locked 60 FPS with proper frame pacing makes a noticeable difference, especially during boss fights, where you need to time your dodges perfectly.

The more I play this, the more similarities to Gothic I'm noticing. For example, from (almost) the very start, you can go anywhere you want, but some areas have powerful enemies which can annihilate you in an instant. This sort of naturally guides you to where you're supposed to go. That said, as in Gothic, you can run past certain enemies and grab a few powerful items early on, which can make things a bit easier. Another similarity is that combat seems to be based on both of player skill and character stats, at least with a melee build.

Level design can be a bit annoying at times, especially when you're forced to walk on narrow ledges while being assailed by multiple opponents. There are also some instances where enemies are shooting arrows or throwing explosives at you from elevated locations that you can't reach so quickly. However, combat becomes very satisfying once you get the hang of the basics, and learn to time your moves properly.

For example, the fight against Havel can be very tense, as he can easily one shot you this early in the game. But it's still possible to beat him and get his excellent ring, if you're persistent and remain light on your feet. This again reminded me of fighting Skeleton Warriors and Orcs early on in Gothic. It takes a long time, but it can be done, if you really give it your all. I also got the Drake Sword, which I'm told is a good early-mid game weapon, but falls off during the later stages.

Surprisingly, I'm enjoying this game more than I thought, at least during these early areas. I also like that there's a variety of builds that you can try. Although I'm liking my melee warrior so far, I am kinda intrigued by the magic system as well. Might be something to consider for a future replay. Also, I just killed my first Black Knight and got his sword as loot. From what I gather, this is a somewhat rare drop. So the loot system in this game has a few Diablo elements as well. Liking it even more now.

So far, I'm enjoying Dark Souls quite a bit. In fact, I don't think I've had this much fun with an ARPG in a long time. And that's surprising, since I tend to avoid high difficulty action games. But somehow, DS hits just right for me. Maybe because it puts so much emphasis on proper timing and reading enemy movements. Best of all, there is absolutely no button mashing here. And no QTEs either.

Additionally, I'm noticing even more similarities to Gothic. Like how larger weapons deal more damage, but swing slower, and can also bounce off walls in tight corridors. To me, this feels like a reasonable balancing mechanic. Dexterity builds seem viable as well, with daggers, rapiers and katanas being offered to players who want faster attacks and more precision.

Speaking of weapons, I found a few of those shiny lizard creatures, and the special material that they dropped allowed me to upgrade the Black Knight Sword to +3 fairly quickly. That weapon is amazing, especially when used two-handed, which makes it deal even more damage. Guess I was lucky to have it drop so early, though from what I gather, some other Black Knight weapons are even stronger.

Anyway, I just beat a really creepy dragon boss, and got the key to Blighttown, which is one of the more challenging areas from what I hear. Might need to level up a bit, and possibly upgrade my gear some more before heading there.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2025-11-02, 07:24:

So far, I'm enjoying Dark Souls quite a bit..

It's great reading your thoughts on this! I absolutely love this game (and series), so I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's actually quite a fair game, in that any progress you make is actually saved even if you die; it can actually be useful to make "death runs" into difficult areas just to pick up equipment and items, knowing that you will eventually get killed but keep everything.

I really like the combat in this game. Like you said, it's very deliberate and it was definitely refreshing back then to play a game that doesn't force you to mash buttons or do stupid QTEs!

newtmonkey wrote on 2025-11-02, 07:58:

It's great reading your thoughts on this! I absolutely love this game (and series), so I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's actually quite a fair game, in that any progress you make is actually saved even if you die; it can actually be useful to make "death runs" into difficult areas just to pick up equipment and items, knowing that you will eventually get killed but keep everything.

Yeah, from what I can see, you only lose souls and the humanity counter upon death. Of course, those can be reclaimed if you revisit the spot where you died, but you can also farm them as needed, so it's not always a huge loss. And in a pinch, there's also that bone item that can teleport you to the last bonfire.

One useful strategy that I found for tougher enemies like Black Knights and Havel, was to lure them a bit further away from their initial location, and fight them there. So if I died during the fight, I could reclaim my belongings much easier, without getting one shot by said enemy before reaching them.

After completing Elex the other weekend I started playing Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon and am really enjoying it... definitely very close to a modern take on Skyrim.

The world setting is fairly interesting (King Arthur and Merlin not the righteous characters folklore make them out to be), the graphics while not exceptional are great, and there's a fantastic combination of weapons you can craft or modify with some hilarious effects.

Doesn't do much different in the way of quests, but I wasn't expecting it to. World is divided up into fairly large chunks, each one being something like 1/4 to 1/3 the size of the Skyrim map... so whilst not truly enormous, there's enough variation and places to explore to satisfy most completionists.

Oh, and I started out with the intention of not falling for old habits... but when I picked up a bow with explosive secondary damage characteristics.... it's back to playing a full stealth archer build with maximum critical and stealth modifiers 😁

Made some more progress in Dark Souls. Blighttown was aptly named, to be sure. Everything in that area was poisonous to the touch, even the water. There's also reduced visibility due to darkness, narrow ledges galore, and pesky enemies who love knocking you off platforms. Yeah, that wasn't exactly a fun experience, but I made it through eventually. The only good thing here were those swamp slugs, since they sometimes dropped weapon upgrade materials.

The boss fight was great too. Much harder than the ones before, but extremely satisfying to complete. Her attacks were quite powerful and sometimes difficult to dodge, so I used the nearby sign to summon a phantom NPC, which made things a bit more manageable. Also, I noticed that the gold pine resin (extra lightning damage) can't be applied to the Black Knight Sword. So I temporarily switched to the Claymore, and managed to bring down the spider lady thanks to the resin buff. Might keep that as an alternate weapon for situations like this.

At the moment I'm at a crossroads, I've gotten board of TW: Rome II, so I've now got a few games i want to pick from (all to be played on retro hardware!):

Dark Forces

Ultima

Vampire The Masquerade

Homework Cataclysm

I am playing X Com Apocalypse , for the millionth time. My favourite game...

I also play a little bit of HL1 and Speed Haste.

Ultima what ? Akalabeth ? I recently played a lot of Ultima V. It is great (though IV remains my favourite by far).

Aui wrote on 2025-11-03, 08:52:

Ultima what ? Akalabeth ? I recently played a lot of Ultima V. It is great (though IV remains my favourite by far).

As I've never played the series before, I thought i might start eith Ultima I, I have an Atari ST or am Amstrad PC1640, both of which I belive should play it. Atari probably has the better version?

The most genuine platform for early Ultima games would be the apple II. But Atari ST is probably also a good option.

This is more of a “future” game I'll be playing. 🤣

Like many people in my age group (over 50) I like the classic shooters of the 90's. Wolfenstein, Doom, Hexen, Heretic, Duke Nukem, Rise of the Triad, and Blood. Many of these games have gotten modern reworks, ports, and even free source ports. Well, Blood has also gotten a little more love. Atari and Nightdive Studios are releasing "Blood Refreshed Supply". I already own all the other versions, so I decided to pre-order this one. Comes out Dec 4th.

I personally love most of what Nightdive has done with the games they work on. So, here's hoping this one is no different. Plus, I got it on sale $10.99! Can't wait to play it through!

Aui wrote on 2025-11-03, 13:25:

The most genuine platform for early Ultima games would be the apple II. But Atari ST is probably also a good option.

As it turns out only Ultima II onwards were on the ST; so PC1640 for the first one at least. I don't have an Apple II, sadly.

Two more areas cleared in Dark Souls. Sen's Fortress wasn't much better than Blighttown, due to an over abundance of narrow ledges, and enemies deliberately placed to knock you off them. Not to mention all the crazy traps. While I do enjoy the combat in this game, its platforming sections leave a lot to be desired. Pretty sure I missed a few items here, because the level design annoyed me, and I had no motivation to explore any more than necessary. The boss fight with the golem wasn't that hard, though I did have some help from a phantom NPC that I had summoned beforehand.

The next area, Anor Londo was much more to my liking. Sure, the new enemies were unexpectedly strong, but at least I was fighting them in wide open spaces. Well, most of the time. The bit where you're climbing a narrow beam while getting shot by Sliver Knight archers was the notable exception. Yeah, that was just mean.

Anyway, I felt slightly underpowered here, so I farmed sentinels and knights (one by one) until I could raise my strength by several points. Weird how you're suddenly dropped into such a dangerous location with no access to merchants. Thankfully, I had previously purchased the toolbox which allowed me to repair items at bonfires, otherwise I'd have been screwed. To be fair, there is a blacksmith here, but you only get to him near the end of the area. On the plus side, he had the supplies I needed for upgrading the Black Knight Sword to +5.

As for the boss battle, this one was really tough. First, just getting there from the last bonfire was dangerous, due to the Silver Knights and Royal Sentinels found along the way. The fight itself was kinda hectic, since it was against two strong opponents who both had some very nasty attacks. I focused on the big guy with the hammer, while the phantom NPC somehow managed to distract the other one. Things got pretty tense when my NPC ally kicked the bucket, and I had several close calls after the two bosses merged. In the end, I won through a combination of well timed dodges and sheer luck. Mostly the latter, I think.

Not quite sure where to go next, but at least I can now fast travel between (some?) bonfires. Might need to raise my strength and endurance even further before tackling those special opponents that the snake creature was talking about.

AlbaScot1995 wrote on 2025-11-03, 08:09:

At the moment I'm at a crossroads, I've gotten board of TW: Rome II, so I've now got a few games i want to pick from (all to be played on retro hardware!):

Vampire The Masquerade

I take it you mean the brilliant Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines? If you do play it, and (like countless others) really love it, then don't expect a good sequel. VTHB 2 was recently released, and is by all accounts grossly simplified in all kinds of ways (or "streamlined to attract players of all types and standards", as the game developer's public relations department would probably say) making it just one more really disappointing modern sequel. I've not played it, and probably never will, unless I really start to hear much better things about it, and then I'd probably wait for a sale.

I hate the modern AAA gaming industry, it just seems so unambitious, so out of tune with what gamers want, so disappointing, and so focused on making games ever more accessible even at the cost of making the games so interesting and interesting long-term.

Kerr Avon wrote on Yesterday, 21:53:

AlbaScot1995 wrote on 2025-11-03, 08:09:

At the moment I'm at a crossroads, I've gotten board of TW: Rome II, so I've now got a few games i want to pick from (all to be played on retro hardware!):

Vampire The Masquerade

I take it you mean the brilliant Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines? If you do play it, and (like countless others) really love it, then don't expect a good sequel. VTHB 2 was recently released, and is by all accounts grossly simplified in all kinds of ways (or "streamlined to attract players of all types and standards", as the game developer's public relations department would probably say) making it just one more really disappointing modern sequel. I've not played it, and probably never will, unless I really start to hear much better things about it, and then I'd probably wait for a sale.

I hate the modern AAA gaming industry, it just seems so unambitious, so out of tune with what gamers want, so disappointing, and so focused on making games ever more accessible even at the cost of making the games so interesting and interesting long-term.

Coulda been worse though, could have been a souls-a-like.

Kerr Avon wrote on Yesterday, 21:53:

AlbaScot1995 wrote on 2025-11-03, 08:09:

At the moment I'm at a crossroads, I've gotten board of TW: Rome II, so I've now got a few games i want to pick from (all to be played on retro hardware!):

Vampire The Masquerade

I take it you mean the brilliant Vampire: The Masquerade: Bloodlines? If you do play it, and (like countless others) really love it, then don't expect a good sequel. VTHB 2 was recently released, and is by all accounts grossly simplified in all kinds of ways (or "streamlined to attract players of all types and standards", as the game developer's public relations department would probably say) making it just one more really disappointing modern sequel. I've not played it, and probably never will, unless I really start to hear much better things about it, and then I'd probably wait for a sale.

I hate the modern AAA gaming industry, it just seems so unambitious, so out of tune with what gamers want, so disappointing, and so focused on making games ever more accessible even at the cost of making the games so interesting and interesting long-term.

Indeed I do! Its up there for next steps... actually though, I feel like cataclysm and Emperor: Rise of the Middle Kingdom may be occupying the pre-christmas roster.