What's everyone playing?

[Edward J Grug III]

I've been playing Cat Quest II with a girl I've been seeing.  She's not exactly a gamer, but we've been playing some casual co op games and have had a lot of fun.  We had finished Overcooked (great co op game, highly recommend it) and were looking for something new.  She signed up for apple arcade, or whatever it's called, and saw Cat Quest on there and thought it looked cute. 

At first I dismissed it for it's cutesy art style and simple look.  And while it isn't the deepest game, it's perfect for us.  It's a two player couch co op action RPG.  So far the combat has just enough complexity to keep me interested without completely overwhelming her.  Sometimes things get a little hectic and we lose track of which one we are, but it's still a lot of fun.  She's getting good at drawing aggro one at a time with her range weapon, then leading them to me to bash the hell out of them.  I also like the way they telegraph when an enemy will attack with a red circle, making it clear when you're supposed to dodge.  And it's full of cat and dog puns, and cute hats to wear.  Not something I'd play on my own, but it's great fun with a girlfriend, or maybe a child or someone younger.  We do die rather frequently, so it's not as if it's without challenge.  But the penalty for death is never that bad, as there are saves all over the place.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for couch co op games?  We are looking at Knights and Bikes next.

I don't really do co-ops, but Snipper Clips?

[Variety of Cells]

I've been playing Cat Quest II with a girl I've been seeing.  She's not exactly a gamer, but we've been playing some casual co op games and have had a lot of fun.  We had finished Overcooked (great co op game, highly recommend it) and were looking for something new.  She signed up for apple arcade, or whatever it's called, and saw Cat Quest on there and thought it looked cute. 

At first I dismissed it for it's cutesy art style and simple look.  And while it isn't the deepest game, it's perfect for us.  It's a two player couch co op action RPG.  So far the combat has just enough complexity to keep me interested without completely overwhelming her.  Sometimes things get a little hectic and we lose track of which one we are, but it's still a lot of fun.  She's getting good at drawing aggro one at a time with her range weapon, then leading them to me to bash the hell out of them.  I also like the way they telegraph when an enemy will attack with a red circle, making it clear when you're supposed to dodge.  And it's full of cat and dog puns, and cute hats to wear.  Not something I'd play on my own, but it's great fun with a girlfriend, or maybe a child or someone younger.  We do die rather frequently, so it's not as if it's without challenge.  But the penalty for death is never that bad, as there are saves all over the place.

Does anyone have any other recommendations for couch co op games?  We are looking at Knights and Bikes next.

I don't really do co-ops, but Snipper Clips?

Thanks.  This has been on my radar as well.  Might have to grab it eventually. 

[MartyS (Gromit)]

At this moment, I wish I still had a CRT television if only for Light Gun games. Luckily I bought the RetroUSB NES AVS and Analogue Mega SG for my modern retro needs as far as NES and Sega Genesis games are concerned.

There are DIY and commercial options for getting old light gun games to work with LCD displays.

This guy came up with an interesting solution:

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/DzIPGpKo3Ag" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/DzIPGpKo3Ag</a>

[Pak-Man]

Picked up Crossroads Inn, which is a sim where you manage a medieval tavern. It was a Kickstarter game, so it launched yesterday with a lot of the usual lack-of-polish and abundance-of-little-bugs that tends to come with Kickstarter games, but it's still very playable and I've never played a sim quite like it.

[Russoguru]

I was playing Castlevania 3 Dracula's Curse last night on my PS4. Holy hell, that game is still crazy hard even 27 years later. Getting to the last stage with Dracula is relatively easy(especially with the password system)... but beating Dracula? That's another story entirely. In the final battle there's three versions of Dracula. The first one is arguably the hardest because he uses the cheapest and most devastating tactics. He traps you between two columns of flames, then up from the floor shoots another column of fire, straight up your ass!!!! The second is a floating set of gross ugly ass heads, and the third is just a giant Griffin looking thing that shoots laser beams out of its eyes and complicates things by having portions of the floor come out and float around. I've never beat the game, and I feel no shame in that because the game is just THAT damn hard.

[CJones]

Just started The Outer Worlds. Only a couple hours in, and it's already flippin awesome. What's more, you can get it using the XBox Game Pass, which is like $1.

My only complaint is that it runs surprisingly poorly on my PC, even though, going by their recommendations, I should easily be able to run it.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/Oxlflrh_Pzw" target="_blank" class="new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/Oxlflrh_Pzw</a>

 

[Russoguru]

For the last week or so I've been playing Dead or Alive 6 online. I've been apprehensive about playing online for years now, mostly because I have horrible memories of getting my ass kicked by little kids at fighting games for decades. Anyways I guess I'm... at least almost semi-kind of almost halfway decent? I have a victory rate of 45%, and while that's pretty far from good, that's certainly a big improvement from when I used to constantly get my ass handed to me.

[CJones]

For the last week or so I've been playing Dead or Alive 6 online. I've been apprehensive about playing online for years now, mostly because I have horrible memories of getting my ass kicked by little kids at fighting games for decades. Anyways I guess I'm... at least almost semi-kind of almost halfway decent? I have a victory rate of 45%, and while that's pretty far from good, that's certainly a big improvement from when I used to constantly get my ass handed to me.

The Dead or Alive series gets a lot of flack from "serious gamers ) for the excessive amount of fan service. Which is a shame because it's actually a pretty good game. Dead or Alive 6 tournaments are a hoot to watch. I've been seriously considering getting DoA6.

Hey, Russoguru, what platform are you playing on?

[Russoguru]

I'm on PS4, my user name is Russoguru, yeah I know big shock. Yesterday I played a SHIT TON of matches and managed to snag the coveted Trophy for winning 50 online ranked matches and fighting in 100 Ranked matches. I currently have a 42% win rate so...I'm not exactly the best player ever. Also, I love the fan service in the series. That's what the whole series was kind of founded upon(in Dead or Alive 6 though they've actually kind of dialed it back a bit). I should know because I've been playing the series since the very first game on the original PlayStation. The fighting system is pretty good, but I still have problems blocking or coming up with strategies when I'm coming at a player who's more than capable of knocking my ass out of the air with a well timed kick.

[Iron Curtain]

Here's what I'm playing now:

• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3

That is all.

[Russoguru]

Here's what I'm playing now:

• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3

That is all.

I will admit, I would LOVE to have that big-ass Luigi's Mansion arcade cabinet.

[Iron Curtain]

Here's what I'm playing now:

• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3
• Luigi's Mansion 3

That is all.

I will admit, I would LOVE to have that big-ass Luigi's Mansion arcade cabinet.

If you're talking about the one in Dave & Buster's, I know what you mean, 'cause I've played it.

[Russoguru]

My local Walmart recently built an arcade cabinet in the electronics you can play... that has TWO classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, the Arcade game, and Turtles in Time. I played it a couple times and... goddamn that brought back memories. It's just too bad I don't have $400 just lying around so I can buy one, take it home, put it together and play it forever. #firstworldproblems

Seeing as how I hardly play my PS4 and Xbox one anymore I don't think it would be the most... practical use of monetary resources. When I say hardly by the way, I mean in comparison to my playing games when I was a teen. I had my SNES and PlayStation on for at least 5-6 hours a day back then...presently there are days when I don't even power on my systems at all. These days I play my PS4 for maybe 2 hours a day at the very most. I know that sounds like a lot, but factoring in that I hardly have a life that's not much time.

[Russoguru]

The Last few days I have been playing a game called Riddled Corpses EX. I only got it because it was SUPER cheap on the PlayStation store. Like two bucks or something with my PS Plus membership. Anyway it's a twin stick top down shooter... a bullet hell game, in the vein of something like Smash TV or Total Carnage. Anyway you blow away thousands of zombies and demons that hurl projectiles at you. You HAVE to play the game over and over because you collect gold to unlock upgrades and weapons and more characters and the more you play the game, the more it rewards you. It is a fun, addictive experience but honestly it isn't that deep. If you need several hours, some time to kill and you're on a budget, I say pick up this game.

[Edward J Grug III]

My son and I put in 10+ hours on Luigi's Mansion 3 this weekend, and it's wonderful. It's goofy and surprising and fun and just what you want it to be. Plus it looks beautiful. Fairly sure we're at about the halfway point.

Problem - Pokemon is out this week. :/