Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-07, 14:53:

Curious, because from what I've seen most people recommend just playing the SotFS version over the base version.

To clarify, my comment was mostly aimed at new players who have just finished DS1 and want to give the sequel a try. In my view, the original version of Dark Souls 2 makes you gradually acclimate to the increased difficulty, especially with regards to multi-enemy fights. While Scholar pretty much throws you into the fire right away. You end up with the same experience in the later portions of the game, but vanilla DS2 guides you there a bit more gently.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-07, 14:53:

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed DS2 more than DS3. I feel that DS2 had better areas to explore and more interesting game mechanics. DS3 had better bosses though.

To each their own, of course. I mostly play these games for the cool boss fights, and in that regard, DS2 doesn't really compare favorably to DS3, aside from a few exceptions. Also, I kinda prefer the faster speed of DS3 now, especially after finishing Bloodborne. That game has really good combat, and once you get used to it, it's hard to go back.

Playing Sam & Max: Hit the Road via DOSBox-staging and the CRT shaders.
From time to time grinding more missions in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Approaching the end of the storyline...

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-04-07, 15:26:

To each their own, of course. I mostly play these games for the cool boss fights, and in that regard, DS2 doesn't really compare favorably to DS3, aside from a few exceptions. Also, I kinda prefer the faster speed of DS3 now, especially after finishing Bloodborne. That game has really good combat, and once you get used to it, it's hard to go back.

I think what colored my perception of these games is the order in which I played them. I played Elden Ring before playing DS3, so DS3 felt a bit underwhelming in comparison. Had I played everything in release order, I'd probably have a different perspective.

The Long Dark

Recently returned to this wonderful game continuing a 300+ day survival save. Eventually I hope to get to the 500 day mark to unlock the achievement.

Playing this game remains a somewhat tense experience knowing that permadeath can end this run.

Lately on PC I've played Mario's missing, street fighter 2, another world, and warcraft 2 expansion set.
These last couple days I've got back my NES with Faxanadu.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-07, 14:53:

Curious, because from what I've seen most people recommend just playing the SotFS version over the base version.

That's what I ended up doing when I played DS2 for the first time a few months ago. And admittedly I don't have a desire to try playing the original, mainly because I feel the game is overly long as it is.

I would also recommend the original over SotFS. The difficulty curve just makes more sense, there are fewer tedious/frustrating encounters, and you have greater freedom of exploration early on. If you do ever decide to replay DS2, I definitely recommend giving the original a try.

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-07, 14:53:

Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I enjoyed DS2 more than DS3. I feel that DS2 had better areas to explore and more interesting game mechanics. DS3 had better bosses though.

For example, I love the torch mechanic in DS2. It's something I wish the other DS games (and Elden Ring) had made use of.

I rank DS2 over DS3, myself as well, and I think it's got some of the best areas in the series (for example, No-Man's Wharf). I also really like the torch mechanic!

Shponglefan wrote on 2026-04-07, 23:41:

I think what colored my perception of these games is the order in which I played them.

I can relate to that. I played DS1 followed by DS2 and then tried Demon's Souls. Couldn't get into that one at all, as it felt inferior to Dark Souls in every possible way, especially with its gimmicky bosses. But people who played Demon's Souls first seem to have a lot of love for it, so it can't be all bad I suppose.

On the other hand, I bounced off Elden Ring because I don't enjoy open world games in general. I'll get back to it some day, as I did like its combat mechanics, but I just don't appreciate the "list of chores" aspect of open world games.

After putting it off for a couple of days because of life, today I finished The Talos Principle.

It was really and uneven experience. I had the story mostly figured out by the half way point of world B and around that was the section that had the most difficult puzzles. World C was so easy, was sometimes overthinking it. And the tower puzzles were so simple they didn't even leave room for overthinking. Though somehow missed the 6th floor somehow. I got the code, but never unlocked it. Probably walked right past it at some point.

Next, I think I'll go for:

fix_metal wrote on 2026-04-08, 00:07:

Lately on PC I've played Mario's missing, street fighter 2, another world, and warcraft 2 expansion set.
These last couple days I've got back my NES with Faxanadu.

AWesome. I love Mario is missing, but I havent been able to track down the CD rom version with the additional countries.
Which SF 2 are you playing? I need to finish warcraft 2 as well. I have also gotten my NES up and running and played some Legend of Zelda and Ninja Gaiden 2.

RandomStranger wrote on 2026-04-08, 15:57:

After putting it off for a couple of days because of life, today I finished The Talos Principle. […]
Show full quote

After putting it off for a couple of days because of life, today I finished The Talos Principle.

It was really and uneven experience. I had the story mostly figured out by the half way point of world B and around that was the section that had the most difficult puzzles. World C was so easy, was sometimes overthinking it. And the tower puzzles were so simple they didn't even leave room for overthinking. Though somehow missed the 6th floor somehow. I got the code, but never unlocked it. Probably walked right past it at some point.

Next, I think I'll go for:

I really enjoy the trine games, I'm not sure if I've completed 4 or 5 of them.

that would mean you might have skipped one part. That would be hard to believe if you enjoyed them 😀
and you always had to wait 4 years for a new one - 4 years to play
skipping one of addons is more probable

part 2 had one addon
https://www.mobygames.com/game/60919/trine-2-goblin-menace/

part 4 had two addons
https://www.mobygames.com/game/184150/trine-4 … ce-tobys-dream/
https://www.mobygames.com/game/184151/trine-4 … ody-of-mystery/

actually there is even more
https://www.mobygames.com/game/60918/trine-2- … -story-upgrade/

robertmo3 wrote on 2026-04-09, 08:53:

that would mean you might have skipped one part. That would be hard to believe if you enjoyed them :) and you always had to wait […]
Show full quote

that would mean you might have skipped one part. That would be hard to believe if you enjoyed them 😀
and you always had to wait 4 years for a new one - 4 years to play
skipping one of addons is more probable

part 2 had one addon
https://www.mobygames.com/game/60919/trine-2-goblin-menace/

part 4 had two addons
https://www.mobygames.com/game/184150/trine-4 … ce-tobys-dream/
https://www.mobygames.com/game/184151/trine-4 … ody-of-mystery/

I don't really do add-ons for anything, but I just checked and I have not completed Trine 5, waiting for a sale under 10.00.

the two trine 4 addons are very nice worth playing
the one for trine 2 i don't remember (i didn't like t1 and t2 as much as later versions cause of annoyingly boring huge amount of enemies in waves.
haven't played t5 yet too.

just found there is also this https://www.mobygames.com/game/116825/trine-new-level/
i read it is included in https://www.mobygames.com/game/67253/trine-en … hanted-edition/
wow, i read trine new level has no enemies

Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin - DLC areas

So I went and replayed all three DLCs as well. As with the base game, I didn't use summoned NPCs this time, and to my surprise, some of the bosses actually ended up being easier that way. For example, Elana and the Slumbering Dragon were much more manageable this time around, simply because they have far less health if you don't summon. While using an NPC for distraction is helpful, I don't think it offsets the huge health increase that the bosses get in some of these cases. I already suspected that since I had beaten Fume Knight, Blue Smelter Demon and Sir Alonne solo during my first playthrough, and this just confirmed it. Interestingly, those guys didn't give me too much trouble on this run.

Lastly, I found the Frigid Outskirts. And yeah, it was indeed as bad as everyone was saying. Between the zero visibility during the blizzard, the vastness of this icy wasteland, and the respawning reindeer enemies, it was by far the worst boss runback in the game. I've read that this was intended as a co-op area that you're supposed to play with other people (or alternatively summoned NPCs), but I did it solo anyway. I died 15+ times here, sometimes during the runback, until I finally beat the boss.

Those two tigers were very tough, especially if you don't finish off the first one quickly. If both of them get close to you at the same time, it's pretty much game over. But if one keeps attacking from a distance, things are slightly easier. One of the advantages of playing solo is that you can use those Brightbug items that temporarily boost your damage, which is what I did. They are too slow to be used during the actual fight, but can be popped safely right before entering the arena. The final phase where the remaining tiger got a damage buff and started regenerating health caught me off guard, but I played defensively and waited it out. After it expired, I managed to get a few good hits in, and that put those beasties down for good.

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (Apple II)
It's always sort of bothered me that, although I completed Ultimas 1-3 on PC (DOS, Apple II, DOS, respectively), I never completed Ultima IV on a PC; instead, I played through the Famicom version. That's actually a very decent port, but it changes stuff up enough that it must be considered a different experience. I initially planned on playing the DOS version, but it's ugly and doesn't have a soundtrack. Yes, you can apply fan patches to add VGA graphics (not a fan) and a MIDI soundtrack (sounds great)... but why not play the original, the way the game was meant to be played.

Normally, I would be playing this on my actual Apple IIc, but I'd miss out on the awesome Mockingboard soundtrack. So, I'm playing the game in the AppleWin emulator, which I can configure with two disk drives and dual Mockingboards for double the voices. The dual disk drives help a lot with disk swapping, and the Mockingboard soundtrack is indeed beautiful.

After a few hours of playing on and off throughout the day, I found four runes (which gave me enough quest experience to reach level 4), explored a few towns, recruited three companions, and bought bows for everyone who can use them. Decent enough progress for a day.

I must admit that I was not really looking forward to replaying this, but I really started to enjoy it once I got into it. It's surprisingly fun to replay, at least during the early game where you're exploring the world and gathering information.

Dishonored
It's been a while since I last played this. I was really enjoying it, but got toward the end of the first real mission and started to get annoyed. I'm not a fan of stealth games, and this was throwing out all the red flags--having to sit around waiting for enemy patrols, trial-and-error gameplay where it seems you have to save in every room, etc. On a whim, I launched the game this morning and, before I knew it, I was addicted again.

The problem was not with the game, but with me. It's not really a "stealth game." Sure, you can stealth your way through the entire game (the game actually tracks this)... but it's more like Deus Ex, in that you have many approaches and alternate routes through levels, so that you only have to be as stealthy as you want. Once you realize that, the game really opens up for you. Very nice!

newtmonkey wrote on Yesterday, 13:34:

Ultima IV: Quest of the Avatar (Apple II)

I had an Apple ][e with a Mockingboard back in the day, and this was the game that led to me getting the Mockingboard. So sad that only a small handful of games ever supported it. It had such an ethereal quality to it. Very simple and basic compared to even FM, but at the time when the only other alternative was internal Apple speaker, it was huge.

clueless1 wrote on Today, 11:07:

It had such an ethereal quality to it.

This is such a great way of describing it! It's technically inferior to the C64 SID chip or MIDI played through a Sound Canvas... but something about it just sounds absolutely wonderful. Maybe it's just that the game was composed specifically for the Mockingboard.

Ultima IV (Apple II)
Really enjoying this! One thing I really enjoy about playing older games is taking my own notes. It really immerses you into the game, like you're actually on a quest keeping a journal as you go. I've got an Excel spreadsheet tracking my progress in collecting the runes and mantras, and I also keep track of all the equipment my characters are wearing. I've also been taking screenshots whenever some NPC gives me valuable info, and I delete them once I've actually resolved that quest.

I was initially annoyed at the slow pace of this version, in comparison to the DOS port, where you can walk as fast as you can press the cursor keys. The Apple II version has a bit of a delay after each move, but it didn't take me very long to get used to it. I kind of like the deliberate pace, now. Getting a horse makes a huge difference in this version, since the horse moves two spaces at a time.

I've reached level 5, but am sticking with a party of four for now (Avatar [Shephard], Dupre, Iolo, and Jaana). One thing I really like about this version (I assume all PC versions), compared with the Famicom game, is that the Avatar gains experience through finding quest items. Finding the runes and stones is enough to level the Avatar up very easily, so I leave combat EXP to the other character and just have the Avatar stand back.

At this point, I've learned all the mantras and have 7/8 runes. I've got the best ranged weapon for Dupre, and the best non-mystic armors for Iolo and Jaana. The shepherd Avatar starts with her best non-mystic equipment (sling, leather), so I won't have to buy anything for her.

I'm referencing maps online as I go, but I don't feel so bad about it. Back when I played through the Famicom version, I mapped all the dungeons by hand. The Ultima games are not really dungeon crawlers, anyway.