What RPG are you playing right now?

[Ack]

Over the weekend, per the recommendation of a few friends for a new co-op game on Steam, I checked out Gauntlet: Slayer Edition. I've mostly been using the warrior and have had an absolute blast with it. Currently I'm sitting at the start of the third set of levels, having just defeated the second boss in Hard Mode, and I have unlocked a few capes in the coliseum. Anybody else try this out?

[marurun]

I own Gauntlet, but am so behind in my Steam queue I haven't played it, yet.

[Ack]

No worries, I've got tons of stuff on Steam and GOG I have yet to get to. I just went for this because friends were checking it out for co-op.

[MrPopo]

I started the new Star Ocean the other day. I'm still getting used to the combat, specifically how much freedom of movement you get compared to a Tales game (the last time I played Star Ocean was back in 08). One interesting thing they're doing is drastically cutting down on the amount of times that you go into a cinematic camera. As an example, let's say you walk down the street and meet up with someone who's going to join your party. In most RPGs you'd go from your normal exploration camera to a cinematic camera that jumps around to focus on people and get angles that look good but would be impractical to play from. This game instead draws a circle around the encounter that you can't move out of (or sometimes even fully roots you) but leaves you with the same exploration camera. So you move seamlessly into and out of what would traditionally be cutscenes.

[marurun]

No worries, I've got tons of stuff on Steam and GOG I have yet to get to. I just went for this because friends were checking it out for co-op.

I would really appreciate knowing how the co-op is. And if you need a 4th, I can install it.

[noiseredux]

They have a 4th

[Ack]

Well, we might be down one since Fastbilly is on vacation this week. Marurun, do you have a headset?

Co-op is fun, at least in the bit that I've done with my buddy Xen. You do have to show some teamwork since you can destroy healing objects and potions by attacking them. You also are competing for gold in each level, and the resurrection system is shared, so if you use a skull token to come back after getting killed, it means there is one less for other folks to use. But if you know your characters and their strengths, taking down many of the challenges is much, much easier.

[prfsnl_gmr]

I am still playing Dragon Warrior II for the summer games challenge. For better or for worse, it is the epitome of classic JRPG game design.

Through a series of fetch quests, crawling through two dungeons, exploring the map, opening locked doors, and searching on random tiles, I now have four of the five sacred seals and most of the best equipment. I also recovered the Evil Statue from the sea cave, and I am almost ready to proceed toward the end of the game. I suspect I will need to level up a bit to complete the game, however, and I anticipate grinding a lot tonight while I search for the final seal and the last few pieces of equipment.

[marurun]

Well, we might be down one since Fastbilly is on vacation this week. Marurun, do you have a headset?

I do, but I need to mess around with it a little. Last time I used it I was getting some noise (not Noise) on the line that was irritating the other folks on Skype who I was playing with. I will investigate that, just in case.

Edit: Huh, turning on noise-cancellation made a big difference.

[Ack]

No worries. Noise's mic has perpetual echo. Anyway, we usually play Thursday nights over Steam, starting between 7pm-8pm Eastern Time. We may switch things up a little, so some Rocket League, some Gauntlet, and maybe some Payday 2 if we're feeling up to it, though that's not a given.