The Miscellaneous PC & vidya Games Thread

[FunkMonk]

Been playing Total War 3 Kingdoms over the weekend and it's so good I'm losing track of time. I have to pull myself away from it and get, like, real life work done, but it's hard. 

CA did a fantastic job on the strategy layer, including diplomacy. I'm pretty happy I skipped Imperator and picked this up instead.

I bought the Viking themed one last year but wasn't that impressed with the strategic depth and while the battles looked great, after a while even that became a bit monotonous.  What makes this version different?

Having never played Britannia I can't speak to the differences.

In Three Kingdoms, I'm finding the provincial building much deeper than Warhammer. The diplomatic AI makes sensible decisions most of the time, and they feel like they have real personalities. The UI is both beautiful and functional and easy to use. I can look at something at a glance and know exactly what is means and I can click a single button and instantly bring up a nicely packaged overview of my characters, provinces, armies, or whatever.

Each faction has a different play style and circumstance, lending to replayability. In Romance mode, the battles play out in some melding together of Warhammer's hero-centrism and traditional Total War, and there's the Records mode if you want a completely traditional Total War experience.

I like how the campaign follows the Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, which lends a narrative to the very character-centric gameplay of the game as a whole.

[Syt]

Diablo 1 on GOG now includes the Hellfire expansion. If you already bought the game, it's added to your account automatically.

https://www.gog.com/game/diablo

[Tamas]

I feel like this might be something to have a joint Languish shot at:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/06/co-op-space-submarine-game-barotrauma-just-hit-early-access-and-its-an-absolute-hoot/

[Syt]

Combat Mission: Barbarossa to Berlin, and CM3: Afrika Korps are now on GOG for about €5 each.

https://www.gog.com/game/combat_mission_2_barbarossa_to_berlin

https://www.gog.com/game/combat_mission_3_afrika_korps

Beyond Overlord has been around for a while: https://www.gog.com/game/combat_mission_beyond_overlord

[Habbaku]

I feel like this might be something to have a joint Languish shot at:
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/06/06/co-op-space-submarine-game-barotrauma-just-hit-early-access-and-its-an-absolute-hoot/

That does seem like fun. I wishlisted it, at least.

[Syt]

Early Access:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1058430/A_Legionarys_Life/

A Legionary's Life lets you play as a Roman soldier during the years of the Second Punic War and beyond. Rise up through the ranks and win prestigious awards or just focus on making it home in one piece; it's up to you.

This is a unique single-player game with RPG elements, extensive usage of attribute and skill checks, a turn-based combat system involving many variables (including morale, reach, confined space and high ground) and a touch of roguelike features. Among them, permadeath. If you are unfamiliar with the term, it means you'll have to start over if your character dies; but don't worry: the game is designed to be replayable and you'll see only a fraction of it in each run. Also, you'll be able to spend points on your next legionary based on how well your most successful characters performed.

Try the demo

This game is unlike most RPGs. Your character won't be successful at everything. Challenges should be picked carefully based on your legionary's strengths and weaknesses. In general, the game is not designed to put you in a situation where the odds are against you unless you willingly step into it. At times, you may fail to perform a task and take a mild penalty in Morale and/or Opinions (a measure of your relationships with relevant entities within the game, like your superiors and your fellow soldiers). Don't get discouraged when this happens, it is nothing more than a minor setback you can easily recover from. If you think the game is treating you unfairly in some situations, feel free to drop a line on the discussions forum. This is an Early Access version and may need rebalancing.

Most of all, I strongly recommend that you try the demo before you buy this game. It's here on Steam and it's free, there's no better way to make sure that A Legionary's Life suits your taste. The demo contains the first 3 parts out of 11 planned.

[Josquius]

So. On 3 kingdoms - have they fixed vassals?
Recently played shogun again and really annoys me how vassals will suddenly turn on you even though they should know they'll be crushed and have a good thing going at the moment.

[frunk]

The Perfect E3 Presentation

Keep an eye on his shirt during the presentation.

[crazy canuck]

@Syt

Thanks, that looks interesting

[Tamas]

So. On 3 kingdoms - have they fixed vassals?
Recently played shogun again and really annoys me how vassals will suddenly turn on you even though they should know they'll be crushed and have a good thing going at the moment.

There's a beta patch that's supposed to trim back Yuan Shao's desires on that.

But, in my experience in the early mid-game there'll be a phase where a strong faction will vassalise several others.

However, even with Yuan Shao's massive vassal empires, it never really lasts. Sooner or later it will implode, at least partially.

[crazy canuck]

@Syt

Thanks, that looks interesting

It is an addictive game that helps one fight off jet lag.

[celedhring]

That Roman game looks really interesting. I think they missed a trick by not setting it during the Ist century BC though. You'd be fighting (and getting dragged to) civil wars besides fighting external enemies.

[The Brain]

That Roman game looks really interesting. I think they missed a trick by not setting it during the Ist century BC though. You'd be fighting (and getting dragged to) civil wars besides fighting external enemies.

And the Social Wars would be perfect for co-op play.

[Tamas]

Holy Effin' Shit, if Michael Gove does win and makes citizenship applications free, I know what I am spending my £1300 on instead: a new PC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDDgFfWlS4

[Maladict]

Holy Effin' Shit, if Michael Gove does win and makes citizenship applications free, I know what I am spending my £1300 on instead: a new PC!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReDDgFfWlS4