What videogames are you playing in 2025?

[chongjasmine]

I no longer play games. Maybe I am getting too old for them.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

How is Avowed? It's been tempting me, but the reviews seem rather mixed.

I'm at the early bits of Act 4 (of 4, I think there's a sort of mini-act after it), and so far, I'm finding it fantastic.

The reviews have been a weird mix of 9s an 7s, and further, some reviewers who are normally sensible, gave it 7.5 or w/e. Often with some strange reasoning about lore.

I don't get that, personally. A lot of the complaints have been extremely weird to me. Like that there's too much lore and talking (there is a lot, for sure), and it's like, maybe my capacity to absorb lore is higher than most, maybe my desire to talk to NPCs is higher than most, but I've really enjoyed that. I've really enjoyed the discussions and conversations in the game, like, way, way more than I expected. You pick one of five backgrounds when you start, and there are tons of dialogue options related to that (far more than say Cyberpunk 2077's Lifepaths), which often get characters to really connect with you or just let you demonstrate knows this already or the like. I picked "Arcane Scholar", which the game correctly describes as basically "Wizard/Lawyer" dialogue-wise. I came in deciding I was going to play Envoy (the PC) as someone who wanted to genuinely help the Aedyran Empire and do their mission, but who wasn't a fanatic, and the game really actually lets you do that - and you do have a fanatic you can contrast yourself with in the plot, or who you could even agree with! But they consistently give you enough options that you can find the nuance you want.

Like, for me, for my money, this is superb stuff. I'm so tired of RPGs were the options are nuance-less and simplified and basically translate to Saint, Don't Care, Psycho. Even the mostly-excellent BG3 falls into that trap at times.

There are two areas it does kind of fall down in:

1) Equipment upgrades - this system is pretty similar to Deadfire, but basically it's not very exciting, and there's a simple "solution" to how you should upgrade gear. It's not some deep and involved system, and there aren't a million choices. On the other hand, all the weapon and armour types are at least "valid" unlike a lot of games - there's no "never use this" stuff.

2) Character upgrades - Again a little similar to Deadfire, but instead of having one of a large number of classes, you can pick talents from basically Warrior, Wizard, and what they call Ranger (but also covers Rogue) - you can freely spread talents between them. The trouble is you get skill upgrades pretty slowly (1 point per level and you don't level all that often). Also a lot of the abilities are just passives which increase stuff (significantly, at least). This isn't terrible but it's not a complex and deeply engaging system by itself, and it doesn't have the exciting mechanical synergies of say Cyberpunk 2077's 2.0 skill system.

But there are two areas it insanely excels at to make up for this:

A) Combat - It's just incredibly fun, imho, whether you go melee or magic, or even ranged (esp. if you use flintlocks pistol, arquebus, or wand. Pure bow is probably the least exciting though still decent). You're dodging, you're slamming abilities, people are getting ragdolled, sometimes you're getting knocked around. You have to actually pay attention, take down enemy healers, summoners, casters, avoid their tanks, don't get backstabbed their rogues or get caught stunned in front of a caster, and so on. Th enemy variety is only okay, but it's good enough, especially with how exciting the enemies are to fight. I really didn't expect this. Combat in first-person (and even many non-Soulslike third-person) action RPGs tends to be pretty "bleh" (Cyberpunk 2077 is decent but not stunning). The Outer Worlds was definitely "bleh" combat-wise, but this is just fun - and it gets more fun as you level up and open up more abilities. There's stealth too, and all character have a really powerful backstab from L1. Plus your character is actually good at fighting with all weapons even with no points spent so if you want to try weapons out (I guess the Envoy is well-trained in self-defense!), you can do it.

B) Movement and exploration - "Parkour" as the game actually refers to it (DEX makes your Parkour faster, as do some magic items). This just feels so good. I've never played a game where it felt this good and was this reliable. Even the edge-grabbing alone is so reliable it feels fantastic. You know when you're going to make a jump, and the levels themselves have been so been so carefully handcrafted that you flow through them, and that you KNOW that if you see this treasure chest through a window, there IS a way to get to it, even though the door is locked and barred. You're constantly rewarded with chest and bodies with some stuff on, and occasionally you find something really exciting like a unique, and it just feels great. Again this was extremely unexpected, I've never played any kind of RPG where this stuff felt good, let alone great.

So I really like it, I think if you like discussing stuff with NPCs, cool weird lore (I think most people who post here do like that, most DMs do even), the Pillars of Eternity setting, and really good combat and movement, it's definitely worth your while.

 

[trappedslider]

Sims 4 - I don't care for the gameplay much. But I can dip in, mess with a sim's outfit, and dip out. The game is not that good at 'hooking me in' for long play sessions, making it ideal to keep installed.

I'm waiting to see if they put out a patch for The Sims legacy before I get it, I loved building houses in The Sims 1 and Livin' large xpac

I've got 400 hours total on Skyrim (various versions) and I still have never finished Skyrim or even seen like, "the last mission". I should fix that one day.

I've been playing Starfield and Fallout 76,along with Hearts of Iron 4. I'm planning on getting a Switch next month along with pokemon snap.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I do have a problem with not finishing RPGs but I've had it since there were videogame RPGs, which is I get to some major "no turning back" point or big story point (often but not always pretty late in the game) and then I decide it's not time to do that yet and end up stopping playing rather than going forwards!

Oh, its not an entirely new phenomenon with me either, but apparently how hard a problem is to overcome has decreased to the point I can expect to hit it in any CRPG. My patience is just gone apparently.

I've been getting better at forcing myself through that point and finished BG3 and Elden Ring, and I expect to finish Avowed the same way. My second BG3 full playthrough (Honor Mode) is paused at the end of Act 2 because I kind of am overwhelmed by the idea of having to do Act 3 again. I've got 400 hours total on Skyrim (various versions) and I still have never finished Skyrim or even seen like, "the last mission". I should fix that one day.

Yeah, where I've gotten worse.

 

[Kaodi]

I would not mind getting into Sims 4 for a bit again. But I do not think it will happen in a significant way until I see The Everyday Living bundle on sale for probably more than 50% (that is Seasons, Parenthood, and Laundry Day together).

 

[MarkB]

Really? I've heard almost nothing but great things about it...

I was mostly going from Metacritic. Average review score 81% and user rating 7 didn't seem stellar.

I'll take a look at some more actual play and may give it a go.

 

[Gradine]

Like that there's too much lore and talking (there is a lot, for sure)

In an Obsidian game?!?!?!?!?

 

[trappedslider]

EA just released source code for a bunch of old Command and Conquer games, and added Steam Workshop support to bangers like C&C 3: Tiberium Wars

How could I expect a source code release by my own forces?

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Ruin Explorer]

I was mostly going from Metacritic. Average review score 81% and user rating 7 didn't seem stellar.
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I'll take a look at some more actual play and may give it a go.

User ratings on Metacritic should never be given any weight at all ever!

You don't have to buy them to rate them, and they get review-bombed constantly (and very rarely, reverse-review-bombed, usually by hyperfans of some terrible gacha game or the like). Any game which isn't "the best game ever" (i.e. BG3) but has something even arguably "woke" is going to pay for it in reader reviews. Often good games are slammed down to 4/10 or worse because they had a Black lead or allowed you to pick pronouns. Honestly I'm actually shocked Avowed got 7/10, because it is well into the "woke zone" for the kind of basement chud/incel who review-bombs these games, and I know they were doing it at one point.

Critics is an interesting one here, because I think it very much depends on what you're into. Critics very much split into 7/10 and 9/10 groups, basically seemingly based on whether they liked/vibed with the plot/story/characters/dialogue or not.

Personally, I loved the plot/story/characters/dialogue, and I think anyone who likes TTRPGs and/or fantasy novels is likely to feel the same way.

I've just finished it and for me, overall I'd say it was probably an 8.5/10, the only things holding it back from a 9/10 being enemy variety and upgrade mechanics. It's definitely in the tier of RPGs I'd probably actually play again sometime, which isn't most of them.

As an aside, kind of confirming my thinking re: TTRPGs/fantasy novels, I noticed two of the writers were Cassandra Khaw (a pretty fun fantasy/horror writer), and a name no doubt familiar to many of us who played RPGs in the 1990s, Lucien Soulban, he of Tribe 8/Silver Age Sentinels/Orpheus fame (and many others). That is definitely the vibe - this is quite a TTRPG-ish game in terms of the story/plot, and what they ask you to care about - it's quite intellectual in a sense, like asks you what you actually value, which puts it very much in line with Fallout: New Vegas and Tyranny and generally a fair bit of Obsidian's output (even Pentiment).

Also the last bit of the game including the ending was surprisingly good (the actual ending/epilogue is very much of the traditional RPG "slide-show" kind, but I like those, honestly, for choice/consequences games - those are often better and more actually-satisfying than more elaborate efforts). It's also a game that doesn't really "reveal itself" in terms of overall vibes until into Act 2, which may be a bit long for some people (there are four acts and then a two-part ending section).

 

[trappedslider]

Can you guess the location from MSFS 2024?

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