What are you playing right now?

[Helpless]

I'm a long time dota player. I've been on and off that game for like six years. I've never been any good at it and have always remained a very low MMR scrub. Although recently, I've finally started to climb.

I recently found a new game on the Epic games store called 'The Cycle'. It has a unique take on the BR genre and classifies itself as 'F2P - PvEvP - FPCQS... Royale. So that just means, it's a free to play FPS br with some pve elements. CQS is competitive quest shooter.
It doesn't have random loot spawn for the most part. What I really enjoy in it is the movement mechanics. It picks up where Apex Legends left off for me. Apex was a great game with pretty boring heroes. It didn't got the direction I thought it would, having been a TF1 and 2 fan. But that's neither here nor there. The cycle is a pretty dope game. Well optimized and runs quite smoothly on my trash PC.

Another game that was just released on the epic store that I'm considering getting is No Straight Roads. A funky, colourful game that suppose to incorporate sound design in a way we haven't seen before or at least those were the ambitious claims they made when I first discovered the title in development last year. But I'm sold on the premise as it reminds me of Jet Set Radio.

I started playing Dragon's Dogma but have found myself a little disinterested in it with all the leg work. It's nicely designed I guess but I only need to see it so many times before I get that message. AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT AUGHT - players of Dragon's Dogma will be familiar with that.

I used to play a lot of war thunder until I got to the point on my tech tree where I was going bankrupt just to have an average game.

I also dabble in a lot of different fighting games and RTS games.

[Helpless]

I recently started playing Heroes of Newerth. An old school moba that's over a decade old now I believe. It's like trying to learn Dota all over again but the heroes feel even more egregious and over the top. I think Dota has toned down that vibe over the years.

It's not quite the exclusive game that some would lead you to believe it is and not quite as dead either. It's just fun getting to learn the new heroes and they have some very wacky cosmetics. There's a one punch man skin, a hatsune miko and a bunch of other references like those in their cosmetics. Many of the cosmetics are actually entirely alternative avatars, which I don't really see in Dota. Most of the time, they try and keep the general shape and vibe of the hero. But in HoN, it'll be a different gender or species and even a new voice to go with it with alternative spell animations and even some portrait differences in the UI. However, at an average you earn about a dozen silver coins give or take and the average cosmetic is like 2.5k silver coins. And their real money transaction for the gold currency is pretty disgusting tbh. I'd have considered getting a starter pack (if they offered such a thing) or even getting a handful of gold coins because I can see myself playing this game at length but it's simply far too expensive. You still get very high quality cosmetics in dota for mere pennies.

Low key, I'd like to learn more about their lore but as far as I can see, there's no real lore written anywhere in game.

It's true, it's a little dated graphically. But it runs smooth and I would say it has about as much depth to it as Dota does. But only real elite Moba players could say that for sure.

Whether you're an elite try hard or a casual scrub, I think HoN has a decent experience to offer and a huge roster of heroes to try.

[Scylla]

Animal Crossing.. just a lot.. of Animal Crossing.

[HairyHeretic]

Mostly Stellaris, currently waiting on the Necroids to drop. The pack comes out today (it's after midnight now) but I'm guessing I might have to wait til it's more tomorrow before I can get it.

I've also been playing a Bloodbowl 2 tournament with members of my FLGS. Not exactly my best season, 2 wins, 2 draws, 4 losses, but I had a rocky start, with several early deaths eating up the coin I should have been using to upgrade my team. Still, that's Bloodbowl for you.

[Hrairoo]

Breath of the Wild. I love finding new weapons. Every time I come upon an enemy with a cool looking weapon, I kill them in order to acquire it. Specifically. Even if I die a lot.

My second favorite thing is cooking. I wander the game a lot, looking for ingredients and then going to the nearest cookpot to whip up interesting combinations.

I am not really a gamer. I like collecting and mixing things.

[Raynor]

Mostly Stellaris, currently waiting on the Necroids to drop. The pack comes out today (it's after midnight now) but I'm guessing I might have to wait til it's more tomorrow before I can get it.

Is stellaris any good? I've had it on my wishlist for forever and I keep debating if I should get it or not.

And right now I am playing Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town. I used to play the original Harvest Moon: Back to Nature game so the remake feels very nostalgic to me (though also much easier). I like being able to build a farm and watch become more and more complete/profitable, cause it makes me feel like I am creating a successful business in a fictional world where farmers can make millions! Haha

I'm also playing Starcraft II cause it is my RTS and I never seem to get tired of it. The strategy, skill, and even sci-fi feel of it all is very appealing to me, and I love the challenge on ladder (I'm not very good though. Still fun regardless!)

But also Hrairoo Breath of the Wild is great too. Played that game for days when it first came out!

[Beguile's Mistress]

It isn't really a game.  I do love going back and forth with people who have a perverted idea of what is right and wrong and getting them all stirred up.  :-)

[Hrairoo]

But also Hrairoo Breath of the Wild is great too. Played that game for days when it first came out!

It has certainly caught my attention! I used to be much more resilient in my youth, losing myself for days on end in games I played. I play BotW probably 1-2 hours every couple of days. I get too easily frustrated by challenging enemies. Times when I quit playing for a short time because dying repeatedly made me angry: a bokoblin tree house where arrows one hit killed me every time, and explosives were mounted around the edge; the Yiga Clan hideout; shooting the legs of Vah Naborus(the first time I attempted, I didn't even get close enough to shoot it yet; I was outside the shield for a second and the lightning strike got me; my last save point was all the way back at Gerudo Town prior to cooking several meals and stocking arrows).

However, I love the depth of the game, the neverending list of stuff to do. I love the scenery, it's gorgeous, every time I turn around, it's picturesque. And even if the challenges make me frustrated on occasion, the game is not easy or boring and I like that.

[threefjefff]

I got really into Hades over the last week or two. I played a fair bit in early access, but didn't really touch it for a year or so until quite recently; but it's got its hooks in deep now!
Finally managed to complete a run of it, and now that I've broken that barrier, it's felt a lot easier to get there over and over again. There's still a bunch of story to unlock there, and I'm enjoying the way the characters unfold more than anything else. I think I'll still be playing this on and off for a while now.

[Inkidu]

I got really into Hades over the last week or two. I played a fair bit in early access, but didn't really touch it for a year or so until quite recently; but it's got its hooks in deep now!
Finally managed to complete a run of it, and now that I've broken that barrier, it's felt a lot easier to get there over and over again. There's still a bunch of story to unlock there, and I'm enjoying the way the characters unfold more than anything else. I think I'll still be playing this on and off for a while now.

My problem is that once you've hit the game's skill ceiling (which is kind of shockingly low to be honest), all you can really hope for is good RNG or grind out Darkness for the mirror. I notice this because when the RNG lines up I beat the Final Boss with one death defiance left like it ain't no thing. When the RNG is not lined up there's a limit to just how good you can play in that first round against the final boss.

(The second round I find a little more predictable and easier to manage because he isn't calling in absurdly tough mobs on you, but since the second phase his damage output is ABSURDLY high without weakening effects or stacking damage resistances having lots of HP from phase one makes or breaks phase 2.)

After a while it just feels like all the enemies aren't challenging they just soak up a lot of damage.

[HairyHeretic]

Is stellaris any good? I've had it on my wishlist for forever and I keep debating if I should get it or not.

I like it a lot, but then the strategy genre is probably my favourite one. If you're on the fence, pick it up during a sale. I've seen the base game going for 25%-33% or normal in various sales. I think the different DLCs add a lot to the game though, and generally they're about half off during sales.

Take a look on youtube, there are a lot of people do how to play guides, intros, and playthroughs. Watch a few hours of those and you might have a more informed perspective.

There's also a lot of mods for the game, some of which really add a lot, though they're not always compatible with newer versions if the original modder hasn't kept up.

There's a lot of different races and playstyles. I've probably played 20 or 30 games with different empire types to see what I like and what i don't, and I'm always messing with new ideas.

[GolGol]

Right now I'm playing Ghost of Tsushima and The Long Dark. Two very nice games ^^

[Inkidu]

I like it a lot, but then the strategy genre is probably my favourite one. If you're on the fence, pick it up during a sale. I've seen the base game going for 25%-33% or normal in various sales. I think the different DLCs add a lot to the game though, and generally they're about half off during sales.

Take a look on youtube, there are a lot of people do how to play guides, intros, and playthroughs. Watch a few hours of those and you might have a more informed perspective.

There's also a lot of mods for the game, some of which really add a lot, though they're not always compatible with newer versions if the original modder hasn't kept up.

There's a lot of different races and playstyles. I've probably played 20 or 30 games with different empire types to see what I like and what i don't, and I'm always messing with new ideas.

What do you think of the economy changes coming down the pipeline?

[HairyHeretic]

What do you think of the economy changes coming down the pipeline?

The Industry Districts? Hard to know. I'm all for less micromanaging of planets, particularly later in the game though. I guess just wait til we get more info and then see how they are in play.

I'm more curious about the Espionage stuff that got teased recently.

[Inkidu]

The Industry Districts? Hard to know. I'm all for less micromanaging of planets, particularly later in the game though. I guess just wait til we get more info and then see how they are in play.

I'm more curious about the Espionage stuff that got teased recently.

I'm generally all for them in concept (no real numbers to speak of at the moment). If only because it makes the AI somewhat less derpy. They apparently cannot really handle making buildings properly so giving them greater district control stops them from totally gutting their own economies.

I'm also generally happy with the uncoupling of buildings to straight pop growth. 

[putrid]

I got really into Hades over the last week or two. I played a fair bit in early access, but didn't really touch it for a year or so until quite recently; but it's got its hooks in deep now!
Finally managed to complete a run of it, and now that I've broken that barrier, it's felt a lot easier to get there over and over again. There's still a bunch of story to unlock there, and I'm enjoying the way the characters unfold more than anything else. I think I'll still be playing this on and off for a while now.

Hades is fun. Really well designed game.

[threefjefff]

My problem is that once you've hit the game's skill ceiling (which is kind of shockingly low to be honest), all you can really hope for is good RNG or grind out Darkness for the mirror. I notice this because when the RNG lines up I beat the Final Boss with one death defiance left like it ain't no thing. When the RNG is not lined up there's a limit to just how good you can play in that first round against the final boss.

(The second round I find a little more predictable and easier to manage because he isn't calling in absurdly tough mobs on you, but since the second phase his damage output is ABSURDLY high without weakening effects or stacking damage resistances having lots of HP from phase one makes or breaks phase 2.)

After a while it just feels like all the enemies aren't challenging they just soak up a lot of damage.

Yeah, there's been a few times where I feel like I have a broken build and there's nothing anyone could do to stop me; but to contrast about a week or so ago, I was struggling to get past Asterius and Theseus. Part of it was definitely maxing out the mirror, but a lot of it is finally getting the timings of their fight (and in general, the fights in Elysium) to the point where you're not hemorrhaging death's defiance/life away.
The rooms in the Satyr warrens and what boons are available as rewards/in the shop have caught me out a few times too. I hate the poison mechanic so, so much; it feels like the weakest part of the game to me.

At the moment, I get the same feeling as I did from the Diablo series, where it's not so much about individual enemies being tough and more about steering a bad-RNG run as far as you can; which is no bad place to be in after 30~ hours!

[stormwyrm]

I played Persona 3 Portable and that was my first experience of the series. I never had a PS2 so I skipped P4 and wound up playing Persona 5 on the PS3 a lot. So I saw that they finally ported Persona 4 Golden to the PC, which went on sale recently, so that's been worsening my insomnia of late.  ;D

[Inkidu]

Yeah, there's been a few times where I feel like I have a broken build and there's nothing anyone could do to stop me; but to contrast about a week or so ago, I was struggling to get past Asterius and Theseus. Part of it was definitely maxing out the mirror, but a lot of it is finally getting the timings of their fight (and in general, the fights in Elysium) to the point where you're not hemorrhaging death's defiance/life away.
The rooms in the Satyr warrens and what boons are available as rewards/in the shop have caught me out a few times too. I hate the poison mechanic so, so much; it feels like the weakest part of the game to me.

At the moment, I get the same feeling as I did from the Diablo series, where it's not so much about individual enemies being tough and more about steering a bad-RNG run as far as you can; which is no bad place to be in after 30~ hours!

I've found weakness to be the one status to rule them all. You just can't beat flat out reduction in damage from all affected sources. I just cleared a game with the shield of chaos because I got Aphrodite's flourish boon and got the boons that lengthened its effect and duration. Then I got Ares's doom strike and then the duo that makes the doom go off as long as a foe is weakened. I was doing massive damage to the final boss even when I had to camp behind a pillar.

I do get the giggles because all of your weapons "hidden" aspects are from figures outside of Greek mythology though. All the hidden aspects are high risk high reward kind of things though. The fists of Malphon even have their fighting style changed to my namesake. :3

[Haibane]

DayZ Stand-Alone. It started out around 2009 or so as a zombie apocalypse survival game mod based on the ArmAII engine with a lot of PvP. I now play the SA version on PvE only servers where the game is about survival, crafting, base-building and gradually living a better life. It has everything, elements of base construction, elements of hunting, fishing, trading, bartering, role-playing... almost anything you can think of within a late 20th century east-European environment. I spend way too much time with friends in a game that is a kind of sims-minecraft-hunter-survivalist mashup with zombies.

I love it. I can shrug away so much stress this way.

[7th Derp]

Currently getting myself to set up to play Terraria after a long time away from it, with maybe some Among Us if my friends are available.

Other than that I occasionally pop on Monster Hunter World to finish up my crown hunting (one last crown to go... hopefully) and once that's all done it's back to GenU to catch up to where I've been before on Gen when I still played on the 3ds. Looking forward to playing Stories 2 and Rise when they come out.

Edit: Had a few rounds on Among Us and boy does it get sweaty when playing against big brains whiles being a tiny brain imposter.

[Inkidu]

I wanted to play Mafia 3, but from a technical standpoint it's a dumpster fire.

[Rowan0]

I've been playing a lot of Among Us, it's especially fun if you have a discord with vetted people to play with! I've seen discords focussing on adults only, 25 +, parents, lgbtq+ people so there should be a server to cover basically anyone who wants to play.

I also really got into the Sims 4 again, it's a nice distracting way to spend some time. I'm not much of a builder but I enjoy creating Sims and making up stories for them.

What's everyone else playing?

[Riodragon1989]

I've been replaying Far Cry 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 in spurts when I feel up to playing something. I could probably do another run of a Dark Souls, but I've been feeling rather down lately, so I've been doing more typing here and watching youtube vids than playing much.

[Tribemaster49]

I've been replaying the whole Dead Space series, and right now I'm half way through Dead Space 2 at the moment. I love the series, even Dead Space 3 though it's by far the worst lol. Had the time right now and I'm really looking forward to The Callisto Protocol, which is supposed to be the spiritual successor to the Dead Space series.