Gaming
What Are You Playing? August 2023
Time for another installment where we talk about the games we've been playing! This time, it's the month of August (July? Never heard of it).
Throughout July, I was partially completing all sorts of stuff, losing momentum as my priorities shifted to the next thing and the next thing after that. Patapon 2 Remastered, God of War: Ragnarok, Final Fantasy XVI, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, a (fourth?) playthrough of Final Fantasy X; all of them have been started and yet none of these games are finished. Not sure what it is that's keeping me from seeing them through.
As for August, I (im)patiently await Baldur's Gate III tomorrow, so I can work on our guide and then maybe actually play the damn thing myself! Steam says I have 20 hours of Early Access playtime, but that's been basically me camped in the character creator pouring over the information (or just "AFK" while I'm writing in the guide); I haven't even watched the intro cinematic! D:
What're you playing currently? Anything new you look forward to playing this month?
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Time for another installment where we talk about the games we've been playing! This time, it's the month of August (July? Never heard of it).
Throughout July, I was partially completing all sorts of stuff, losing momentum as my priorities shifted to the next thing and the next thing after that. Patapon 2 Remastered, God of War: Ragnarok, Final Fantasy XVI, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, a (fourth?) playthrough of Final Fantasy X; all of them have been started and yet none of these games are finished. Not sure what it is that's keeping me from seeing them through.
As for August, I (im)patiently await Baldur's Gate III tomorrow, so I can work on our guide and then maybe actually play the damn thing myself! Steam says I have 20 hours of Early Access playtime, but that's been basically me camped in the character creator pouring over the information (or just "AFK" while I'm writing in the guide); I haven't even watched the intro cinematic! D:
What're you playing currently? Anything new you look forward to playing this month?
Great on getting this started, Link! Hyah!
I'm going to be diving deep into Path of Exile's new league, Trial of the Ancestors, on August 18. I'm thankful they launch these at night here so it doesn't typically interfere with the day. I've currently got a playthrough of Cyberpunk 2077, which I started for the first time the other night when it was clear I wasn't getting to sleep anytime soon. Oracle of Seasons and Ages just dropped on Switch Online so I will need to find a time to play that as well. World of Warcraft will certainly also make an appearance, as it does during the month to complete the Trading Post as a bare minimum.
Last month I had a chance to sneak in a play of Techtonica which released a couple weeks ago. I've got most of the outline of a review ready to go, I just need to fill in the missing parts. Spoiler alert: It's a great factory/automation game and although it's a bit on the shallow end right now, you can see where it is going and I'm pumped for it.
Link, after getting to read all your Baldgur's Gate content, it makes me want to check it out (would be my first BG game) but I have no idea if I'll actually have the time considering there is a million other things to do outside of playing games. Maybe one day when it goes on sale...
It also sounds like you have a ton of games on the go which would drive me crazy. I'm already worried about my simple Cyberpunk playthrough that I started (and Tears of the Kingdom which I have yet to finish) being left in the dust to everything else and then if I do return to it one day, I'll have forgotten where I was and either alt+f4 or restart entirely.
Cheers to August!
Oh, also, I need to find some time to play more F1 2023. I have like an hour in it which is kinda sad times. No race weekends this month due to the F1 mandatory summer break does open up some time.
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In my totally-unbiased opinion, I think you should drop everything you're doing and buy it. Once you, our glorious leader, have seen firsthand how amazing it is, we can work together to overhaul Out of Games into its true purpose: being the best Baldur's Gate wiki it can be! XD
No but seriously, the hope/expectation(?) is that BG3 will be the finest cRPG of this generation, so if you have any interest in Dungeons & Dragons - or just turn-based RPGs in general - this game should be worth the look. You don't need to play the first two games; they're from so long ago, I wouldn't judge anybody for not going out of their way to access them. Just think: BG3 is based on D&D 5th Edition, while the original two use 2nd Edition, first published in 1989. Watch a summary video on YouTube if you feel the need lol.
Overhaul Out of Games?!?!?! We won't tolerate a coup. There will be a Riot!
Jokes aside (and to return to the thread's purpose), I'll delve - for the millionth time - into Rome 2: Total War and I'll also try Resident Evil: Revelations 2. A frined convinced me to have a look at its Raid Mode. Neither of them are new games but the fun factor is guaranteed (with Total War, at least)
The harder the world, the fiercer the honour
Personally I had a rough start of July, but then I have been getting a lot of free time this days. Played Hearthstone and Pokemon Masters EX during this whole time.
Tears of the Kingdom/Advance Wars Reboot Camp/Pokemon Scarlet/The Messenger have taken most of my free time during the start on my switch as I was away in a long trip and could not get to play on my PC. Also played more pixcross than I would like to admit on my weaker laptop as well as Pirates of the Caribean at worlds end, Mini Metro and Motorways with their new maps.
Then when I got my hands on my PC I started tackling my backlog. One Piece Pirate Warriors 4, Warhammer Vermintide 2, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas - The Definitive Edition (Still not finished with this one), Borderlands 3 1st season of DLCs, Mother Russia Bleeds, and some DLCs I was still not playing from Total War Rome 2 and Attila as well as Finishing my first campaign of Total War Rome Remastered and Barbarian Invasion.
Also took a bit of a nostalgia trip to Black Ops 2 Multiplayer for around 2 hours.
With a bit of luck I will get access to Payday 3's closed beta and that will be what I will be doing during the weekend other than work.
Lemushki - The one and only since the 2006 rebranding.
Jagged alliance 3 all the way!
That game is so awesome that i'm making it as long as possible. Just want to enjoy the tactical aspect of it for as long as i can.
The reason is that the enemies are not really very hard to beat right now... Also, most skill points are kind of useless or force you to a certain play style with each of your characters. Probably a patch will follow soon, so a redo of the game will be in order then :)
In-between i'm probably gonna restart a game of Prehistoric Kingdom, since it had quite a bit of additions (seemingly) and i love ...zoo building xD
I can't speak from the viewpoint of a professional - only someone who has sought treatment for depression herself - but I say that you absolutely should consider getting help regarding your mental health. For ages we as a civilization have been dismissive of its importance; it's practically ingrained in everyone that you should just shut up and tamp it down, not be fussy or bitchy or whatever other term someone can use to hand-wave away problems. Don't be like that, especially to your own self. You don't have to deal with such feelings alone <3
I just wanted to echo link's sentiments @cavestuck and give another endorsement for considering mental health support.
I resisted taking that step for years until I was feeling very much as you describe and things came to a head at work and in my personal life. It can feel daunting, but I found podcasts to be a safe/accessible first step to learn about different approaches and what might work best for me and my situation. There are a ton out there, but I found the volume of guests and topics on Shrink Rap Radio to provide great food-for-thought and eventually settled on ACT / found someone trained in that approach in my area. Here's one I remember resonating: https://shrinkrapradio.com/422-finding-true-refuge-in-mindfulness-with-tara-brach-phd/
Wishing you love and kindness cavestuck! And if you haven't seen it (lately), DFW's commencement speech always hits home for me: https://youtu.be/ms2BvRbjOYo
<3