The "What Are You Playing Today" Thread

[Iron Dragoon]

Been off and on replaying Lufia 2 recently. Just started the second half of the game after Gades. It's a solid 16 bit game that's better with a fixer/retranslation patch.  Really one of those late 16 bit RPGs ala FF6, BoF2 and others that hit it out of the park.

I've been looking for something that style that I could play on my phone/tablet while traveling or at work. Something that'll work offline and that I can move my save from my phone to tablet and back. Does anyone have suggestions?

[Jason_Miao]

After a stint of playing Silent Storm and the sequel Sentinels, I've been playing Star Ruler 2, a space-themed real time 4X game that tries new mechanics.  It feels like LOGH but with somewhat less politics (but still more politics than most 4x space games) and more pewpew guns.  I've played through a few games and have failed horribly at them so far, but still having fun with it.

SR1 was a 4x game built around a ship design kit.  I loved that game and wouldn't have been too disappointed if SR2 was just more of the same, but it's not.  The default races have distinct characteristics, and while much of the SR1 ship design philosophy is still around, you can't build things like artillery that can wipe out planetary populations from across the galaxy anymore.  Planetary Thrusters and Ringworlds are still in, though.  Governors and city development have been replaced with government-directed civilian development incentives, and instead of money, you have budget cycles (and including letting the player borrow against future cycles).  So it is more in line with how one expects a government to function.

Been off and on replaying Lufia 2 recently. Just started the second half of the game after Gades. It's a solid 16 bit game that's better with a fixer/retranslation patch.  Really one of those late 16 bit RPGs ala FF6, BoF2 and others that hit it out of the park.

I've been looking for something that style that I could play on my phone/tablet while traveling or at work. Something that'll work offline and that I can move my save from my phone to tablet and back. Does anyone have suggestions?

I don't play JRPGs, so I'm sure that others can better answer your question.  But a quick search on Google found the following:

"In 2009, Taito ported Estpolis (Lufia I) to mobile phones in Japan. Other than some new supplemental artwork - which appears in the character portraits above, since none were featured for the original release - and a slightly different screen ratio, the game uses the same graphics."

Might be worth following up to see if anyone has ported/translated it.

[Anastasia]

One suggestion: Emulators and uploading your saves to a cloud or similar solution, so you can play across platforms? I have no idea about emulation on phones, though.

[Dracos]

and way better than it's remake of "I can walk up this city again...walk up this city again."

[Merc]

Been a surprisingly long while since I've played a video game (not counting tabletop simulator with Drac/Hal/Kal). Picked up Monster Prom on a whim thinking it'd be some thoughtless fun.

It's a dating simulator for a school of monsters, and it's been EXACTLY the thoughtless fun I was expecting it to be.

Fairly reminescent of Cards Against Humanity wrongness, with a very healthy dose of dating sim randomness. A lot of the options are going to give you random results no matter how sure you are they're the right thing to do (or in most cases, the worst thing to do. You're a monster after all).

But the dialogue is often funny regardless of a success or failure, and while some of the humor hasn't been to my taste, a fair bit has amused me as I started the game off trying to woo the very bitchy gorgon Vera with each of the player characters.

Got shot down three times (brutally, I might add... I wasn't kidding about her being a bitch), before I finally triggered the right conditions for her on the fourth time, mostly due to luck honestly. And probably having a lot of charm and money?

Vera's Acceptance: ShowHide

Prom Photo: ShowHide

We made a cute couple. Even if she was probably taking advantage of me for my money.

[Dracos]

aww :)

[Jason_Miao]

I've been playing Battletech, a turn-based tactical game with large stompy mechs shooting enormous lasers, but whose creators have never heard of ICBMs.  This is a war game with RPG elements.

+The single player campaign is not just some random nonsense they threw in as a tutorial for online play.  (I'd say something about accuracy with respect to the tabletop game, but I've never actually played that.  All movement is in hex-grid, so take that as you will).

-Computer AI is not amazing, which is interesting since they should be able to write one well with a turn-based game.  Long load times (but still playable). 

+/- You've spent days building up your best merc's XP, he's sitting in your best mech, and gets killed through a freak headshot with an oversized autocannon.  I think that's cool, but then again, I play actual roguelikes.  I can see other people throwing their computer out the window over something like that. 

Also, lots of meters to worry about (armor, internal structure, heat, $ (which goes to both repairs and salary)).  So, great game if you like spending time trying to redesign large war machines for different tactics and planetary biomes, but not so great if you hate resource micromanagement.

[Dracos]

Been a while.  Some Slay the Spire certainly got some time, but lately I've been doing Octopath Traveler.  Near end game right now.  It's kind of a neat current gen Saga Frontier type.  Character storylines are held by bullshit and threads together and it is long...but at least no start from scratch mechanics in its play.  Very structured for all that it plays as a free roaming type affair.

[Jason_Miao]

Prospector Release 210

I think the programmer toned down the anesthetic exploit; I'm not making nearly as much money as I used to from capturing aliens.

[Dracos]

Dragon Quest XI.  Lots of nice usability changes.  I think the silent hero worked against them, since there's very clearly an emotive arc the character is supposed to be going through and made some of the reaction scenes odd...

Spoiler: ShowHide

Don't murder a heroes' entire family and village if you're doing a not speaking hero.  Yes, it can work, but you kind of have to have them react.

I'm in Act 3 now, and largely my feel is that I walked through a framework of a much better tale with similar beats.  I think a much darker take on Act 2 would've still been a great story, and would've set up Act 3 much better.  By having both be Cheery, it's all well End of games, they undercut the setup for act 3 a lot.  Yes, a lot of named characters end up surviving down this route, but they kind of handwave away the damaged world rather than having it be a clear backdrop.  The world was saved...but at such cost.

[Jason_Miao]

The Game Formerly Known As DoomRL (before the site was given a cease and desist).

Fun Roguelike.

[Dracos]

Going through The World Ends With You on Switch.  And Crosscode when I get back to finish it.  Lot of games in back 10% of game at the moment.

[Anastasia]

Final Fantasy 1 Randomizer's a lot of fun. Been playing that in the various modes, it's great to play through and have fun. It's wonderful for old fans of Final Fantasy 1 to feel nostalgic over and really learn the tricks of the game.

[Jason_Miao]

Lethal Application

Note: Link to playlist of someone who is much better at this game than I.


I should say a little more than just give the link...remember how the machine gun in Doumono had momentum that let you fly around?  Most movement in this game is built around a similar mechanic.

[Jason_Miao]

UFO Aftershock