I thought I would try to stir up some conversation by talking about games I've been playing the past few months. So maybe people might get ideas on whether or not to play something or just talk about what they've been playing and possibly enjoying.

To start I would like to bring up Frostpunk and Frostpunk 2. Man these games are really amazing. Similar and yet VERY different from other management games. When I started playing them I just could not stop. The first game is somewhat limited but it does have a main campaign and a few scenarios to play. Sadly for me I did not have access to a lot of the scenarios as they are not included in the free version on Gamepass. But yes! They are both free to play on Gamepass. I absolutely love the premise, the temperature drop after Krakatoa eruption did not stop and the world plunged into an ice age starting in the 1880's. Love the steampunk art style and the gritty narrative.
They changed a lot in Frostpunk 2 but overall I would say for the better. The map is much larger and there are more scenarios to play. There are more factions and more everything. I still have more to do and plan to try to do most, if not everything.
One minor complaint that might actually be a bonus to some people is the games are actually quite easy. I sailed through the campaign on Frostpunk 2 on the highest difficulty with survivor mode. This keeps you from pausing or saving the game which forces you to live with all your decisions and juggle everything that's going on all at the same time. I was able to do it and end with all factions at maximum rep and save everyone for the best possible ending. It got pretty hectic at times but the only real hurdle was not being able to pause the game outside of exiting to the menu. I guess you could say that's still pausing to think about what to do.

Sea of Stars is a beautiful pixel RPG with an average story. It's pretty easy and laid back. If you like pixel graphics and RPG's its certainly worth checking out.

Octopath Traveller 1 and 2 are much the same as above but just overall better games. If you are looking for a good retro style RPG this is where to go. If you can only go for one of them go for the second it is much better.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is another very good Pixel RPG. This is from the people behind Suikoden games so if you played those you will likely enjoy this. There is a good solid story and the game is overall good. If you like collecting followers and building up a community well this game has over 100 recruits and a beautiful castle with lots of buildings and things to do inside.

State of Decay 2 is fantastic. I mean I have put over 250 hours into this game despite the content being rather repetitive. I just love the community management and helping enclaves with their problems and just running around killing zombies. There is a lot of story to play as well especially if you migrate to Trumbal Valley. And there is Heartland dlc with a lot of story which is quite fun as well.

Fable Anniversary, Fable 2 and Fable 3. Yes I still enjoy Fable. If you have never played them they are on Gamepass. New Fable coming soon, hope it is good. Kind of scary with Lionhead out of the picture.

Airborne Kingdom was a fun little game but quite limited. I played through it one time in one day. I guess if you just have time and want an easy filler it's ok.

Unpacking was wonderful. Very mellow laid back puzzle game. I actually perfected it but it doesn't take long to go through everything. Still if you like mellow puzzles it is a good choice.

Core Keeper was for me not very enjoyable. It's a minecraft clone, you mine blocks and build things then mine higher level blocks and repeat. There is some small amount of story and a lot of not enjoyable combat. Especially the boss fights since they will kill you in 1 or 2 hits. Heck I played enough to see what the game had to offer and it got to where everything could kill me in 1 or 2 hits which I did not enjoy and just shelved it there.

Forager is really simple and sort of minecrafty. You mine blocks and build things but you level up too. And you have little islands that you purchase with gold. It's ok but not really my style. Never really cared for Minecraft.

The Frog Detective is terrible. Don't ask me why I played this game, I honestly don't know. The art is bad, the story is bad, the puzzles are bad. If you have young children that like puzzles maybe they will like it.

Dune Spice Wars is a really mediocre RTS. There seems to be some story but honestly it's so mediocre I don't feel like playing enough of it to find out.

Wargroove 2 is ok. It seems really geared towards younger people. The characters all seem to be kids or young adults. The violence is quite subdued. It's not bad but not great either. If you are a fan of LBGT gaming then this is worth checking out as there is some of that going on.

Halo Infinite I just started playing but I love it. I eh am a bit biased as I remember my dad coming home from Singapore with a cracked copy of Halo Combat Evolved and playing the series up till 4 which is where my life went sideways. Sadly all of the Halo games except 5 are on Gamepass apparently unless it on the console list, I haven't checked much on the console list. Anyway I've only played the first mission and like a fool chose to go all out on legendary even though I haven't played Halo in 10 years. Rather enjoyed getting my ass handed to me and learning how to play again. The bit of story I saw was quite nice, right up my alley.

Well these are just the things on Gamepass I've been playing and State of Decay 2 was actually played on Steam but it's on Gamepass and for whatever reason it has integrated all my stats from steam and given me gamerscore fore it? I might expand on steam games I've been playing but as you can see there is already quite a lot written and it's honestly time for bed. Cheers!

2 weeks ago

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Company of Crime is pretty mediocre TBS. Outside the 60's era London setting not really much anything of note. From what I played it is just the same thing over and over. You take 3 of your members on a raid, beat people up, grab some items and run before the cops arrest you. There is a little bit of story and a little bit of management but not much.

Jack Move is actually pretty fun. There is a story and it's decent. The combat system is pretty good and there is a lot to it if you want to really explore it.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon is where it gets interesting. This game is really fun to play and there is so much side stuff going on it can be easy to get lost doing stuff that doesn't advance the story. The story is pretty good but a lot of the dialogue is light hearted and goofy. I haven't gotten to the management part yet but I read that's where you get all your money. And you need it because everything in this game is over the top expensive. Will have to look into Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth someday.

2 weeks ago*
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Reserved?

2 weeks ago
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ill read it later but for wargroove 2 is it mostly LGB? or T element is very prominent too??

2 weeks ago
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Just LGB from what I see but I don't pay much attention to know if there is any t stuff going on

1 week ago
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well, that's good news☺️☺️

1 week ago
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That's good news because... it would hurt your feelings if trans people saw themselves represented as a tiny bundle of pixels and code lines in a video game?

1 week ago
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...........just like how i couldn't care less about "them", why do you care what i want to like and not like?? mind your own business.

1 week ago
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Yeah well I'm a lurker on these forums, I generally wish I could mind my own business.

But you're the one who decided to very publicly ask about your petty concern instead of silently looking it up on the internet.
By doing that, you're contributing to a general climate where a whole category of the population are made to feel like they don't belong or have no right to exist, not because of what they think, but because of what they are.
This type of behavior is detrimental to society as a whole, and has very real consequences. Why do you think the suicide rate is so much higher among "them", as you say?
So when a comment like you pops up, it's important to mitigate it by expressing love and acceptance. I'm not any letter of the LGBTQ+ community, but their lives and well-being matters to me just as much as any.
That's why I'm writing here to make it known that your horrible feelings are not, in fact, shared by everybody.
Video games, movies, books and music are full of people like me already. It's no skin off my nose if devs and pubs decide to bring in some diversity into the mix. Or a lot, for that matters.

Feel free to answer if you need to vent, but I probably won't answer any further as I believe my chances of changing your mind are close to 0.

1 week ago
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boo hoo, now whose feelings got hurt just because a random commenter vaguely opined about something he doesn't agree with??

you wasted both of our time by forcing a reply, rambling way out of proportion with a bloated comment, and in the end you say "oh im not going to reply to you, i win!!!"??

you really should have kept your mouth shut from the very start.

1 week ago
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What's to "agree with"? I'm generally against stupidity and yet stupid people exist... it's not for me to agree or disagree with people existing.

you really should have kept your mouth shut from the very start.

One should often follow one's own advice.

1 week ago
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you're telling me to keep my mouth shut......... for a response to an answer i received because i asked for it............??????????????

meanwhile, you're here adding absolutely nothing of worth to what i asked from OP............. go flaunt your moral superiority elsewhere.

1 week ago
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I'm happy to answer questions or talk more about any of these games or others I have played. Or just happy to read about or discuss games other people have been playing. Good healthy communication is important I believe. Or you start talking to yourself and go crazy. Or so I hear....

1 week ago
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I played some State of Decay 2 a while back when it was on a free play weekend and it appeared to be mainly an endless sandbox without much story. I was hoping for a SoD 1 style campaign with unique characters and story. Did I play the wrong mode or is the story/campaign style game actually a DLC released later on? I only played long enough to clear about half the map and did not migrate out of the region so it's possible I missed something or didn't go far enough.

1 week ago
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Story missions pop up randomly from your survivors. There are My aunt the Prepper and a Family member who worked for the police and things like that but the main story takes place in the Trumbal Valley map and on the Heartland game mode. If you play on Trumbal Valley you'll see a lot of familiar faces and Heartland is Trumbal Valley back when it all started.

1 week ago
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Hmm, it sounds like Heartland is what I'm after. I think I'll pick it up for myself next time it hits the historical low. Thanks for the info!

1 week ago
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oh to have enough time to farm backlog like this... I'm stuck with idle games in the background and occasional 5-10 hours per week of actual gaming

1 week ago
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Sadly it's all I am able to do really. Believe me when I say I would rather be working and improving my quality of life. However I do try to enjoy it as much as I can, it could certainly be a lot worse.

1 week ago
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Let's see. From your list, I've played:

Sea of Stars: Quite enjoyable
Octopath Traveler: Great stories, hated the grind, really hated Gareth as a boss fight.
The Fables. They were aight.
The Frog Detectives: I thought they were funny.

The Frostpunks are on my list to play this month or next.

1 week ago
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I'm serious when I say I just can't stop playing them. I still have plenty to do in 2 but I really need to play some other stuff. I have been playing the endless mode and it is actually challenging. I almost lost because there was 2 whiteouts back to back quite early in the game. People were freezing to death and starving by the thousands and people had lost all faith in me.

1 week ago
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I can imagine. I've played a bit of Frostpunk before, but I'd like to play through the campaign and DLC in its entirety before starting 2.

1 week ago
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I'm currently playing Symphony of War Nephilim Saga, as part of PAGYWOSG. Super enjoying it. Thought it would be more JRPG leaning, but it's actually more Wesnoth or Advance Wars tactics, perhaps vague overtones of FFTactics. Pleasantly surprised and happily overthinking everything.

As for Core Keeper, I did a lot of base building and careful exploring, so I haven't had trouble with one hit deaths from bosses. Having some appropriate armor or equipment helps a lot, and changing tactics to fit the area/attack patterns. Really enjoying the low key exploring and finding neat little crafted corners they built. Not for everyone though, like most games.

1 week ago
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Sow was pretty good for a indie game.
I actually had the very best equipment available fully upgraded but every single enemy was able to take me out with minimal effort, they would also destroy my save point making me start all the way back at the core and I was just tired of running back. I had defeated everything in the core area and took down the wall. I was trying to find some kind of island that is apparently the only place in the game to get octarine but guess I went the wrong way since there is absolutely nothing in the game telling you where to go. Ended up in some lost passage . Just didn't seem very enjoyable to me. If I had been able to find octarine maybe I would not have given up on it.

1 week ago
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Ah, I made some fast walking hallways to get to a few places faster. But your situation sounds not fun, so I totally get it.

If you talk to the core he tells you generally which direction is next, and if you build the mysterious floating guy he sells crafting items which can tell you which direction bosses are, but that will only help if you have found a few bastions of the place to collect some local bits. Exploring the rim where the wall was found the three areas for me, but maybe your game seed is just an awkward one.

Octarine is on the beach I think.

1 week ago
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I'm currently playing Assassin's Creed IV: Black flag.

1 week ago
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lol good to know I'm not the only one who hated The Frog Detective. I am usually an easy audience for humorous cozy games but this... I didn't get.

I did like Forager though. And I really loved Unpacking. It was very chill and very sweet.

I'm not sure what I'll play next but of my most recent wins, I really enjoyed Honey I Joined a Cult and Eldest Souls

1 week ago
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Not won those yet but they are on my wishlist. I have far too much to play any way. Just hope everyone can find some bit of happiness in this crazy world. It's kind of scary how life can be so so beautiful and yet so terrifying ugly at the same time. I'm starting to see why most people aren't afraid of death. After a while you just get tired of all the bullshit. And even if all you believe in is science the law of conservation of energy states that energy cannot be destroyed only transformed. So the spark never really goes out, just gets transferred.

1 week ago
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I know, right? My backlog, I mean treasure chest, keeps expanding and time keeps shrinking.
I'm actually terrified of death. Mostly of losing my loved ones though or leaving them sad.
There is lots of BS in our lives but I still think it beats the alternative.

1 week ago
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I've been checking out This War of Mine Final cut on Gamepass and it's a pretty good management sim. Same studio behind Frostpunk. Choices really matter in this game. Radio says to stay indoors because looters are out. So do you risk going out to get those materials you need to expand your base only to come back to having been robbed? Do you focus on producing food and water or building and repairing weapons and armor? Love it.

6 days ago
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I loved This War of Mine, I was just really bad at it so I never got very far into the game. But it's a great game.

6 days ago
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I've made it to day 18 so far. I have found that patching the walls and reinforcing the door are needed as soon as possible, after that even though I was getting raided every other night I wouldn't lose anything other than a few bullets used in defense. Unfortunately I was trading electronics early on for food so I am having a hard time upgrading. Some random person asked to move in so I had to finally break down and build that second bed. I also found that killing or stealing really affects your people which kind of limits what all you can do.

5 days ago
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