What videogames are you playing in 2026?

[Reynard]

No, certainly not. It does tend to be confused with Sekiro, which came out around the same time. Ghost of Tsushima is a standard open world game, no soulslike game mechanics at all.

Ah. yeah. That makes sense now.

 

[Parmandur]

I was under the impression that GoS was a souls like?

Nope, that is an open world game like Skyrim.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

The only thing that really frustrates me about the camera in BG3 is a lack of decent altitude control. In a game with so much verticality in maps, being unable to properly aim at or view a higher level can be really limiting.

That’s true - I love the verticality in the environment but the camera is really not up to the task. A lot of camera rotation, zooming in and out, and praying to Tymora can be required to see a high-up rafter or navigate to the roof. Something NWN2 never had to deal with, thank goodness.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Fired up the original Streets of Rage on the Switch. That Yuzo Koshiro soundtrack is so good.

 

[SkidAce]

I was under the impression that GoS was a souls like?

I think its closer to the Action RPG than Souls like (IMO).

Some combat is difficult, but its not so brutal that you have to memorize sequences and combat foes 25 times before getting the win. You can defeat some foes just by learning your skills, or gaining the high ground. (Stealth Archer FTW!)

 

[MarkB]

I think its closer to the Action RPG than Souls like (IMO).

Some combat is difficult, but its not so brutal that you have to memorize sequences and combat foes 25 times before getting the win. You can defeat some foes just by learning your skills, or gaining the high ground. (Stealth Archer FTW!)

Plus there's no soulslike "bonfire" system that has you constantly backtracking, it uses a standard console-style checkpoint system, and a generous one at that - I don't think I was ever set back by more than a minute or so of gameplay after dying in a fight.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Today, I played a bit of Cleared Hot. A helicopter action game. Don't know what the genre is actually called, but you have a top-down view and fly a helicopter over the ground, evading enemy fire and mowing down your enemies (a bit gory, for the level of detail at least). A nice little game for a bit mindless in-between, or at least that's my hope.

 

[Steve Jung]

Were the graphics updated at all for the EE? I recall NWN had the worst kind of early 3D graphics, which made it hard to play without throwing up. By the time NWN2 rolled around it was tolerable but the first game really gave me trouble.

Sorry I just saw this. Beamdog, the developer of the EE, created an HD art pack for the game.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Today, I played a bit of Cleared Hot. A helicopter action game. Don't know what the genre is actually called, but you have a top-down view and fly a helicopter over the ground, evading enemy fire and mowing down your enemies (a bit gory, for the level of detail at least). A nice little game for a bit mindless in-between, or at least that's my hope.

I don't think it has an official genre name, but the furthest back common ancestor of this kind of game is Desert Strike, which was directly inspired by Choplifter, but took the similar gameplay into an isometric perspective (and added a lot more weapons) which worked a lot better. That also lead to a lot of other Strike games in the 1990s, which would probably be the genre term if there were one (Jungle Strike, Urban Strike, Soviet Strike and Nuclear Strike). I think "Desert Strike-like" is probably the best genre name to avoid confusion with games inspired by Sudden Strike and so on.

There are a few modern indie versions - Cleared Hot is one, I'll definitely get it when it comes out of Early Access, there's also Megacopter (which sort of adds a mystical Aztec element!), and Cobra Strike is still upcoming but looks good.