Video Game You Last Played?

[PutYaGunsOn]

Tekken Tag Tournament 2...at an arcade.  (I have it on my XBox 360 too, but it's more fun when you're at a busy arcade surrounded by people, and potentially beating people out of their credits.)

[Taka Nuvia]

Ah, yes. Realms of Arkania. I tried to play that on several different occasions, each time spending an hour or two reading through the manual before even starting the game itself, and I never made it very far. On my last attempt, I got as far as leaving the starting town, but en route I got attacked while sleeping, and after spending about twenty minutes trying to make heads or tails of the combat, I gave up. I still hope to return to the game and make a more serious attempt, but for now it and its sequel must be content to sit in my backlog.

 

It took me 4 or five attempts to figure out a party combination that worked for me, as well as get a grasp on the combat system. But it's really worth it IMO. Just make sure you're playing in advanced mode (or whatever it's called in English; I am playing the German version of the game). I always wondered why some spells wouldn't work at all - turns out, my caster's levels in that spell were rather low So for me, it was mostly learning by doing. ^^

[(Daedalus)]

Finished Tomb Raider: Anniversary yesterday, and overall, I think I preferred Legend. It balanced everything a bit better than Anniversary and had far fewer frustrating platforming sections (climbing the tower in Atlantis was one of the most frustrating gaming experiences I can remember), and it certainly had fewer bugs and camera problems. I still enjoyed it, but I was glad it was over, which, now that I think about it, probably isn't good for a game that only takes about 12 hours to complete.

 

I started Underworld today. It looks better and I like the new animations, but the camera ranges from so-so to awful and the combat is worse than the combat in the previous games. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm going to finish it at this time. It's not bad or anything, but the little annoying things are being exacerbated by fatigue with the series. I think I may put it on hold for a while and come back to it later.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Last game I played was Crusader Kings 2.

 

Started a campaign a week or two ago as a custom character Iaredios Paerkenon, Count of Barion in the Roman Empire at the time of 1066 AD. In my game, the Roman Empire did not lose the Battle of Manzikert to the Great Seljuk Empire in Alp Arslan's invasion into the empire. With that, the Roman Empire did not have a massive lost of land reduced to only Greece as what historically happened because of the Battle of Manzikert, which led to mass corruption, civil wars, and near-total collapse before the rise of Alexios Komnenos as recorded in The Alexiad. With that out of the way, civil wars ravaged the land and imperial decadence was getting to a point lethal point, the corruption about to make the Roman Empire collapse under its own weight. Iaredios married a distant relative to the then-emperor Manuel Komnenos (completely different then the historical one) and expanded his realm by a county and becoming a doux (duke), Doux of Apoulia. The two had a child named Isaakios, Isaakios Paerkenon. He grew up to inherit the title of Doux of Apoulia, and seeing the Roman Empire about to collapse isaakios worked for years to make a faction to support his overthrow of the Roman Empire, using a claim for the throne he inherited from his royal mother. When having gained enough followers, he launched his own civil war against the emperor Isaakios II Komnenos, the war for the fate of Rhomania (as the empire was oft called) being decided by this war. It was long, but the War of Two Isaak's was won by by Isaakios Paerkenon.

 

Upon usurping the throne, Isaakios was faced with emptying the entire Roman Empire of it's currency and prestige in order to do massive reforms to combat rampant corruption and anarchy, lest the Roman Empire be dissolved after a thousand years of existence and the Themes and other realms be left to themselves. It was done, but such economic drain and prestige loss did not sit well with the vassals, and so a series of civil wars and peasant revolts erupted, but Isaakios went out personally and won each conflict, the highest amount of wars at a single time was 5. The Empire began to recover from the crisis, and the treasury and respect were slowly refilled and regained, respectively. But an old enemy, Alp Arslan of the Great Seljuk Empire, invaded again. So great was the war that it drained the empire's population, but thankfully the combat was restricted to Armenia and Roman Syria (the coast). In the end, as the Roman Army was on the doorstep to the Seljuk capital of Isfahan, peace was made and a great Roman Triumph, the first held since the time of Roman Emperor Basilaeos II Porphyrogennetos Makedon 'the Bulgar Slayer' a hundred years prior. This was a signal to the world that Rhomania had returned to a state of great power, and it's power was to only rise from there-on out. On his deathbed Isaakios Paerkenon was give the nickname of Isaakios the Old and was succeeded by his son Methodios Paerkenon, the first Porphyrogennetos or Purple-Born in the Paerkenon dynasty, legitimizing the dynasty to the Imperial Throne indefinitely*.

 

*To be Porphyrogennetos / purple born, a child must be born in the porphyry (royal purple rock) chamber in Konstantinopolis. It has a special small bed of great comfort in the middle that is only used for birth-delivery and has stained glass windows that fit well with the sparkling porphyry that the chamber is made entirely out of. To be born in there is considered a holy right to the imperial throne, and your proof is a royal purple baby blanket that is only made specifically for that chamber and can be found no where else. To loose such a blanket is thought to mean that you lost your right to rule from God.

[(Daedalus)]

Last game I played was Crusader Kings 2.

 

Started a campaign a week or two ago as a custom character Iaredios Paerkenon, Count of Barion in the Roman Empire at the time of 1066 AD. In my game, the Roman Empire did not lose the Battle of Manzikert to the Great Seljuk Empire in Alp Arslan's invasion into the empire. With that, the Roman Empire did not have a massive lost of land reduced to only Greece as what historically happened because of the Battle of Manzikert, which led to mass corruption, civil wars, and near-total collapse before the rise of Alexios Komnenos as recorded in The Alexiad. With that out of the way, civil wars ravaged the land and imperial decadence was getting to a point lethal point, the corruption about to make the Roman Empire collapse under its own weight. Iaredios married a distant relative to the then-emperor Manuel Komnenos (completely different then the historical one) and expanded his realm by a county and becoming a doux (duke), Doux of Apoulia. The two had a child named Isaakios, Isaakios Paerkenon. He grew up to inherit the title of Doux of Apoulia, and seeing the Roman Empire about to collapse isaakios worked for years to make a faction to support his overthrow of the Roman Empire, using a claim for the throne he inherited from his royal mother. When having gained enough followers, he launched his own civil war against the emperor Isaakios II Komnenos, the war for the fate of Rhomania (as the empire was oft called) being decided by this war. It was long, but the War of Two Isaak's was won by by Isaakios Paerkenon.

 

Upon usurping the throne, Isaakios was faced with emptying the entire Roman Empire of it's currency and prestige in order to do massive reforms to combat rampant corruption and anarchy, lest the Roman Empire be dissolved after a thousand years of existence and the Themes and other realms be left to themselves. It was done, but such economic drain and prestige loss did not sit well with the vassals, and so a series of civil wars and peasant revolts erupted, but Isaakios went out personally and won each conflict, the highest amount of wars at a single time was 5. The Empire began to recover from the crisis, and the treasury and respect were slowly refilled and regained, respectively. But an old enemy, Alp Arslan of the Great Seljuk Empire, invaded again. So great was the war that it drained the empire's population, but thankfully the combat was restricted to Armenia and Roman Syria (the coast). In the end, as the Roman Army was on the doorstep to the Seljuk capital of Isfahan, peace was made and a great Roman Triumph, the first held since the time of Roman Emperor Basilaeos II Porphyrogennetos Makedon 'the Bulgar Slayer' a hundred years prior. This was a signal to the world that Rhomania had returned to a state of great power, and it's power was to only rise from there-on out. On his deathbed Isaakios Paerkenon was give the nickname of Isaakios the Old and was succeeded by his son Methodios Paerkenon, the first Porphyrogennetos or Purple-Born in the Paerkenon dynasty, legitimizing the dynasty to the Imperial Throne indefinitely*.

 

*To be Porphyrogennetos / purple born, a child must be born in the porphyry (royal purple rock) chamber in Konstantinopolis. It has a special small bed of great comfort in the middle that is only used for birth-delivery and has stained glass windows that fit well with the sparkling porphyry that the chamber is made entirely out of. To be born in there is considered a holy right to the imperial throne, and your proof is a royal purple baby blanket that is only made specifically for that chamber and can be found no where else. To loose such a blanket is thought to mean that you lost your right to rule from God.

Just thought you should know that I love reading these posts. They certainly make the game sound more interesting than it looks.

 

Which kind of reminds me: I put Tomb Raider: Underworld on hold. I made a stab at Mount & Blade, but it was a bit more involved than I was expecting and the prospect of eventually commanding a small army was a bit daunting. Still, I like the idea and I can imagine that investing some time into it will make a great experience, so I definitely have plans to play it in he future.

 

I decided to finally download and play XCOM: Enemy Unknown, so I'm waiting for that to finish. I've heard good things about this game and I'm excited to try it out.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

 

Last game I played was Crusader Kings 2.

 

Started a campaign a week or two ago as a custom character Iaredios Paerkenon, Count of Barion in the Roman Empire at the time of 1066 AD. In my game, the Roman Empire did not lose the Battle of Manzikert to the Great Seljuk Empire in Alp Arslan's invasion into the empire. With that, the Roman Empire did not have a massive lost of land reduced to only Greece as what historically happened because of the Battle of Manzikert, which led to mass corruption, civil wars, and near-total collapse before the rise of Alexios Komnenos as recorded in The Alexiad. With that out of the way, civil wars ravaged the land and imperial decadence was getting to a point lethal point, the corruption about to make the Roman Empire collapse under its own weight. Iaredios married a distant relative to the then-emperor Manuel Komnenos (completely different then the historical one) and expanded his realm by a county and becoming a doux (duke), Doux of Apoulia. The two had a child named Isaakios, Isaakios Paerkenon. He grew up to inherit the title of Doux of Apoulia, and seeing the Roman Empire about to collapse isaakios worked for years to make a faction to support his overthrow of the Roman Empire, using a claim for the throne he inherited from his royal mother. When having gained enough followers, he launched his own civil war against the emperor Isaakios II Komnenos, the war for the fate of Rhomania (as the empire was oft called) being decided by this war. It was long, but the War of Two Isaak's was won by by Isaakios Paerkenon.

 

Upon usurping the throne, Isaakios was faced with emptying the entire Roman Empire of it's currency and prestige in order to do massive reforms to combat rampant corruption and anarchy, lest the Roman Empire be dissolved after a thousand years of existence and the Themes and other realms be left to themselves. It was done, but such economic drain and prestige loss did not sit well with the vassals, and so a series of civil wars and peasant revolts erupted, but Isaakios went out personally and won each conflict, the highest amount of wars at a single time was 5. The Empire began to recover from the crisis, and the treasury and respect were slowly refilled and regained, respectively. But an old enemy, Alp Arslan of the Great Seljuk Empire, invaded again. So great was the war that it drained the empire's population, but thankfully the combat was restricted to Armenia and Roman Syria (the coast). In the end, as the Roman Army was on the doorstep to the Seljuk capital of Isfahan, peace was made and a great Roman Triumph, the first held since the time of Roman Emperor Basilaeos II Porphyrogennetos Makedon 'the Bulgar Slayer' a hundred years prior. This was a signal to the world that Rhomania had returned to a state of great power, and it's power was to only rise from there-on out. On his deathbed Isaakios Paerkenon was give the nickname of Isaakios the Old and was succeeded by his son Methodios Paerkenon, the first Porphyrogennetos or Purple-Born in the Paerkenon dynasty, legitimizing the dynasty to the Imperial Throne indefinitely*.

 

*To be Porphyrogennetos / purple born, a child must be born in the porphyry (royal purple rock) chamber in Konstantinopolis. It has a special small bed of great comfort in the middle that is only used for birth-delivery and has stained glass windows that fit well with the sparkling porphyry that the chamber is made entirely out of. To be born in there is considered a holy right to the imperial throne, and your proof is a royal purple baby blanket that is only made specifically for that chamber and can be found no where else. To loose such a blanket is thought to mean that you lost your right to rule from God.

Just thought you should know that I love reading these posts. They certainly make the game sound more interesting than it looks.

 

Which kind of reminds me: I put Tomb Raider: Underworld on hold. I made a stab at Mount & Blade, but it was a bit more involved than I was expecting and the prospect of eventually commanding a small army was a bit daunting. Still, I like the idea and I can imagine that investing some time into it will make a great experience, so I definitely have plans to play it in he future.

 

I decided to finally download and play XCOM: Enemy Unknown, so I'm waiting for that to finish. I've heard good things about this game and I'm excited to try it out.

 

Glad you enjoy them! When I saw i got a notification from this page I thought it was going to be someone complaining about the length of the post and tell me to stop. Apologies for the typos. Oh, and I forgot how Iaredios (not me!) loved to give women in his court 'good tumbles', making him have many illegitimate children. I remember one that was homosexual and unfortunately killed himself due to depression, poor lad. The stuff I wrote up there is actually older; I could have gone up to where I currently am but I decided it was long enough and I would make another post about it at a later date. I gotta go to bed, maybe I'll do that after I wake up.

 

Its a good game, I recommend getting it. The fact that you play as a series of characters with land titles instead of countries themselves makes it more interesting then similar games, not to mention the time period.

[Hukster]

100% Orange Juice, love me some anime Mario Party.... with the rage inducing factors.

Edited October 26, 2016 by Hukster

[The Night's King]

Still on Destiny. Trying to acquire the Outbreak Prime and getting up to 400.

[SirChronicler]

minecraft.

[Taria Pakari]

Overwatch. Finally got a PS4 last week so I got Overwatch today. Played my first game as Hanzo, ended up with POTG. Pretty happy.

[Pohaturon]

The bottomless abyss that is Diablo 3 has sucked be back in entirely. I'm playing with a just-for-fun monk and a seasonal barb, switching between the two every session. 

 

I mean, the game is a massive grind, but leave it to Blizz to make grinding really, really fun.

 

I'm literally embarrassed about how much entertainment value I derive from Diablo 3. Hoping for a new expack announcement at Blizzcon.

 

 

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Played Crusader Kings 2 again. Here's a follow-up of what happened before.

My chronicle of Basileus (Emperor) Methodios Paerkenon of the Rhomaion Basilea (Roman Empire) is hidden below.

 

On October 21st, 1130 AD, Basileus Isaakios III Paerkenon succumbed to old age. He was succeeded by his son Methodios Paerkenon, his pre-coronation celebration being held at Cannae, south Italy. He was a kind and generous man, as well as having a love of hunting, being sociable and humble (as humble as someone can be with his position and the honor it naturally holds),  but he was very much a zealot and it clouded his reasoning sometimes, despite him being a pretty smart man. Before his official coronation at the Queen of Cities Konstantinopoulis, a rebellion erupted, seeing the death of the old powerful emperor as a sign of their chance to gain freedom or further vassal liberties at the expense of the Emperor. Methodios was forced to engage this test to his abilities before he could reach Konstantinopoulis and be crowned before the most holy Ikon of Ieusos Khristos Pantokrator and be nominated by God Himself to lead the Christian world (at least, according to the contemporary theologies of the post-Theodosian Roman Empire.) The test of Providence was passed as the revolt was put down and Methodios Paerkenon finally reached the region of Byzantion and was officially crowned as Representative Ruler of the Universe at the sacred basilica of the Hagia Sophia. With their Lord behind him, the hellenistic nephilim laid his eyes upon the world and sounded the thunderous Roman horns, like angels announcing the wrath of the God by calling forth the ancestral cultist Mars and Ares into the hearts of every Roman soldier to exact the holy commands of their Basileus.

Two years passed and in 1133 the revolt was crushed, Methodios was officially crowned, his son Nikodemos Paerkenon was born Porphyrogennetos or Purple-Born, and late in the year Mathedios declared war on the Egyptian ruler Caliph Yared of the Fatimid Caliphate. This war was declared on behalf of his cousin Theodotus Makrembolites, house Makrembolites being a branch off of house Paerkenon as it was spawned from an illegitmate child by the first major Paerkenon in Roman politics, Iaredios Paerkenon from way back when, the cadet-dynasty having since taken control of the Theme of Tripoli. The Theme of Tripoli had ancestral claim to Syrian land held by exclave territories under the Fatimid Caliphate, so Methodios used this claim as both a means to ensure the loyalty of his cousin, appease the blood-thirsty Glory faction, and further the goals to regain Roman control over the Levant (since nicknamed Outremer by crusading Westerners).

 

The Egyptian islamists were undergoing a huge invasion into their Arabian territories by the Great Seljuk Empire, who were conquering all of the sandy peninsula, and so because of thier great distraction the Roman Empire was able to successfully gain control over the land dictated in the claim without much resistance and forced Caliph Yared to yield the territory a year later in 1135 lest risk a full Roman invasion back into the Empire's ancient breadbasket. Methodios would have been okay with such an invasion, to liberate the Coptics and get their old land back (that was lost in the wake of islam's aggressive spread from Arabia in the 600's), but it would be unwise to think that the Seljuk invasion into Arabia would last forever and so did not abuse his advantage. The change in rule excited the commoners of the new province, and so tired of being ruled by foreigners, a Syrian rebellion began; though their efforts were noble, it was utterly futile before the great might of Roman army, and so was quickly crushed and forced to abandon their nationality ('barbarians') and become Greko-Roman ('civilized') so as to dissuade any further rebellions.

A couple years after the leader of the orthodox church died from too much drinking, Emperor Methodios then put his sight on the west Balkans with the aim to reestablish the old Roman provincial system of Illyria over the region presently controlled by separate Kingdoms of Serbia and Croatia, and the border extremities of the pretender Germanic Holy Roman Empire. Due to it's close proximity, Serbia was targeted and war declared upon the unsuspecting Slavs. They put up a valiant effort, but stood no chance. Rather then destroying the kingdom, it was wholly annexed, like an intact prey swallowed whole by a great beast, the king of Serbia no longer answering to God directly but to his appointed representative on Earth and beyond with the title of Despot of Serbia.

Parts of the Christian world, Orthodox or Catholic, were finally awakened to the threat of the reemerged Roman Empire under the upstart Paerkenon dynasty, horse-riding messengers of from many smaller, weaker countries near or on the border of Basiliton Rhomaion raced across the continent with calls for a defensive coalition to better defend themselves; larger countries like Kiev, Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire watched attentively but did not yet feel threatened by Rhomania. Hearing of this, Methodios Paerkenon immediately declared war upon Croatia to prevent it from being part of this coalition. He found Croatia to have more bite to it then Serbia, so much of the military had to be raised to properly fight this powerful midget. Slavonia had much fighting but the majority of the conflict occurred in Bosnia, where the life blood of tens of thousands watered the great forests there. Unable to full conquer it, Methodios subjugated it as a suzerain, forced give up Slavonia and pay rent to Rhomania but otherwise retain it's independence. By the end of the Rhomaion war with Croatia, states like the Kingdom of Jerusalem (which is ethnically Croatian in this world, coincidentally), and the Most Serene Republic of Venice (or just Venice or Venezia), as well as a few smaller ones joined in a defensive pact against Roman Imperial aggression, where if they are attacked by the ancient state then they all go to war together.

After his mother died and a great tournament was held in 1145, Methodios Paerkenon declared a holy war on the  Riyahadid Sultanate of Africa (the region, not the continent later named after it; Africa would later be come to be known as Tunisia) as a first step to eventually reconquering Egypt (or Aegyptus as the Romans called it). The specific areas would be most Tripolitania (or Leptis Magna), which consisted of half of coastal Libya. After successfully taking it, a muslim defensive coalition was created to protect weak muslim countries from Rhomania. In light of his zealous actions to expand the direct influence of the Roman Empire, further consolidate it's place as the true representative ruler of the universe, and its successful holy war in Libya, Methodios Paerkenon gained the nickname of 'the Holy'. After this, years passed, 1149  to 1153 with peace inside the Roman borders as the world outside raged in fire, plague and darkness, with many summer fairs and feasts for common-man and nobleman to enjoy.

Methodios aimed to have the rest of his rule be peaceful, but that was cast aside when he tried to take down a corrupt vassal of his, Doux Bardas of Hadrianopolis (Adrianople), but the wretch slipped out of the grasp of justice and waged a futile overthrow attempt. The civil war was put down swiftly, but the Emperor abandoned such prospects of peace when he heard that Hungary was in the middle of a civil war itself and was losing to rebels, and so took advantage of the situation to reclaim more land south of the River Danube (or Danuvius in Roman-speak). Again, Methodios underestimated his foe which resulted in the loss of the armies of Croatia and Serbia and a few Roman Thematic levies, and for the first time the Emperor raised his usually homebound bodyguards, The Varangian Guard. This mass of tamed, largely pagan heavy infantry are the descendants of vikings who were awestruck by Roman majesty and swore themselves to an oath to protect and preserve the leader of this civilization, the self proclaimed New Jerusalem as described in the Holy Bible's epistle & apocryphal Book of Revelations (famous words of the vikings who became the Varangian Guard upon their arrival in Konstantinopoulis, "We did not know whether if we were in Heaven or on Earth"). These Greek-Vikings were raised to do battle with the powerful heirs to the Magyar Horde, themselves a mighty pagan force that struck terror across the continent of Europe until the time of their own taming by the first Holy Roman Emperor, Otto the Great. And so in the lands of Croatia and Carpathia did these two former scourges of Europa clash and do battle, axe against saber. This war made Methodios develop an anger problem, which made him more terrifying (or glorious) in battle. Defeat was only subverted when Methodios sacrificed soldiers of Serbia in order to go around a mighty Hungarian army, crossed the River Danube and besieged Budapest personally with the Varangian Guard, where the Hungarian king himself ruled from his inferior throne. 25 days passed before the Basileus attacked Budapest and unleashed his hellenized northmen upon the guardsmen and populace alike, and reclaimed his Empire's lost territories from the barbarian king at the point of the sword and axe. However, before word of this victory had been disclosed to all the soldiers, the Roman empire was able to win against the Hungarians, and the Serbians were able to regain their honor, by strategically defeating them when Despot Caslav of Serbia won the Battle of Krizevci.

 

A couple years later, the Hungarian Duchy/Theme that was gained int he Roman-Hungarian War attempted to rebel but that was quickly put down. Over the course of several years, more wars were had (such as expanding into Libya and gaining a foothold in Sicily for the first time since the island was lost to a muslim jihad against the Roman Empire back at the time of the ascension of Emperor Basil I Makedon in the 800's (whose rise to power and the history of his own dynasty, Makedon, is worthy of its own story). The wroth that had overtaken Methodios Paerkenon during the Roman-Hungarian War staining his temperament and replacing his zeal for holiness with that of anger. It was only by the constant check of his late wife he was able to resist the orders of blinding and castration of those that rebelled against him and preventing him from going down a cruel and dark path. With the death of his wife, his curse of hate cooled down in memory of his love. He had a hole in his heart, though not depressed, and was later healed by two lovers (marrying the latter as a second wife, the maximum amount allowed in contemporary Orthodox theology), each of whom he impregnated and died a year after giving birth to a single child each. His 40 year old son Nikodemos, seeing his place being threatened by newborn pretenders, was displeased by his father's antics but proved himself to the lords of the realm in that series of conflicts by surpassing his father's ability with the blade, leading the armies that won wars, and impressing those said lords with his master of diplomacy. The disgruntled son of Bardas I of Adrianople, Bardas II sought revenge against stain of his families honor that he blamed Methodios for producing (though erroneous in this blame), and Methodios sought his fit son to take care of this annoyance and so Nikodemos did so, and did it well.

A couple years after that futile sequel of a rebellion, on November 8th, 1176, Basileus Methodios Paerkenon the Holy died of old age at the age of 63 at the capital city, and his 44 year old son Nikodemos Paerkenon was celebrated as the new Emperor of the Romans at the Paerkenon ancestral home of Cannae, and left for Konstantinople to receive divine legitimacy to the Roman Crown. Despite his problems and the many wars he partook in, Methodios Paerkenon the Holy is widely considered a saint by the people, though has not been canonized by the Patriarch of Constantinople.

 

 

[PutYaGunsOn]

Just played some Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

 

I think the setting has a lot of potential (it's too bad what happened to 38 Studios), and the story is solid.  I want to love this game, but honestly, the gameplay is really nothing special.

[Taka Nuvia]

Found an old copy of Baldurs Gate 1, so I spent the last few days learning about/how to play that game. I was devastated when in my first attempt, the party members ended up fighting to the death because of their alignments.

[Manducus]

BlazBlue: Chronophantasma Extend

 

 

Not sure if I simply suck at the game or need a fightstick since I can't pull off those special moves without tearing my hair out. I didn't have any problems when I played Continuum Shift Extend and Calamity Trigger though.

Edited November 27, 2016 by B0ss Manducus

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Wont be too lengthy here. Last game I played was Crusader Kings II.

 

At the age of 44, Nikodemos Paerkenon was crowned Emperor of the Romans at Constantinople, and though it is a prestigious and holy position, his father's zeal made him wary of spiritual talk and thought and so was quite cynical to the whole thing. Upon his formal coronation, Nikodemos shaved his beard in a fashion reminiscent of the early Emperors like Octavian and Trajan. As is common for Medieval times, especially for an empire seeking to regain lost glory (mainly from Germanics and Arabs), warfare was constant on the border of the Roman Empire. A few of the Thematic lords had begun to spread their power outside of their designated themes, they being Athens, Epirus, and Kibbryheat(?) and it troubled the new lord. The checking of these internal powers led to a couple of small civil wars, but Nikodemos was able to keep the realm together. In his lifetime he was able take over all of the Crimean peninsula, reconquer all of south Italy, 2/3rds of Latium (including holy Roma itself, which had been lost ever since the rise of the Lombards when they took it from the reconquests of Justinian and Belisaurius), and vassalize all the Turkic and Russian tribes north of the River Danube and north of Crimea, they serving as a wall in case another evil like the Huns and the Magyars were to to sweep in from the Eurasian steppes. In the middle of his reign, he decided to take a visit to Antioch, a holy city as it was where the post-Christ Christian church started on Pentecost and spread to the rest of the known world from there; in his pilgrimage he found wonder in the ancient city and had a spiritual awakening, throwing away his cynical views and embracing the zeal of his father. Unfortunately, Nikodemos had twins by now adults, and so the two were equally legally up for succeeding the Emperor upon his death at the age of 69, year 1206 AD.

 

Crusader Kings II does not have a game-function to represent the tradition of crowning a Co-Emperor who would act as the heir-apparent and would be personally chosen by the ruling emperor (this practice dating back to the Tetarchy as set up by Diocletian and refined under Constantine the Great); because of this, it would change between the two randomly. One son was more set up for rule over Rhomania, so it was of no surprise when Nikodemos died and succeeded by his least-capable son that the rest of the realm was not enthusiastic, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Konstantinopoulis even refusing to crown the new emperor and so had to be replaced. He was the first of the Paerkenon dynasty to not be legitimized as a Strong Basileus, just simply a Crowned Basileus, so it appears that darkness and civil war looms over the empire and the twin brother gathering a faction of supporters to help him seize the throne from his ill-fit brother. If the new emperor wants to retain his rule, he is going to have to show the world that he is indeed up for the job, or that his rule will start a new decline for the Basilea Rhomaion that had since been halted since the rise of Isaakios III Paerkenon over a century prior. A dynasty is only as strong as its weakest link, and time will tell if under pressure it will snap and all the weight that was suspended by it goes shattering before the earth and devoured by hungry barbarians.

[Pohaturon]

*my upper torso briefly emerges from a dark and ominous hole that is Diablo 3, hands clawing in order to be free*

"No, I must be free!"

"Just one more paragon level....."

*I'm dragged back under*

 

you have died.

 

Oh, yeah, that and some Mass Effect 3 multiplayer. Because ME3 multiplay is awesome.

 

[Hodor]

Pokemon Sun.

 

I'm actually kind of surprised that I'm enjoying this installment this much- I couldn't get into Gen VI terribly much, and I haven't sat down and tried to finish Gen V. I appreciate that it's basically a Pokemon game that's gone full JRPG, and has a pretty good plotline going, too. Probably my favorite game in the series since Conquest.

[evil_jaga_genius]

So I hit the gold mine at the thrift store the other day and managed to snag a copy of Halo: Combat Evolved for PC, and I've been playing through the campaign.  I haven't beaten it - yet.  But hey, now I can buy some of those Mega Bloks sets without any shame.

[Pohaturon]

We've been going through the Mass Effect trilogy with my wife (her playthrough) and recently began the third instalment. I (and now, we) fall into that group of "heretics with no taste" that actually like ME3 and even consider it to be the best of the trilogy. I mean, yes, it's less of an RPG than ME was, but more than ME2, and it has the best

• Side quests
• DLC
• Citadel
• Normandy
• Banter
• Overall gameplay
• Character interaction
• Handling of the moral choice system (I.E. more complex than literally mother teresa or literally hitler)
• Best variety and distribution of enemy types
• Best armour and weapon selection/customization
• Best music

And so on. Plus the ending isn't so bad with the EC so that ceases to be an issue as well.

 

Anyway, we're having a blast with the game.

 

[(Daedalus)]

We've been going through the Mass Effect trilogy with my wife (her playthrough) and recently began the third instalment. I (and now, we) fall into that group of "heretics with no taste" that actually like ME3 and even consider it to be the best of the trilogy. I mean, yes, it's less of an RPG than ME was, but more than ME2, and it has the best

• Side quests
• DLC
• Citadel
• Normandy
• Banter
• Overall gameplay
• Character interaction
• Handling of the moral choice system (I.E. more complex than literally mother teresa or literally hitler)
• Best variety and distribution of enemy types
• Best armour and weapon selection/customization
• Best music

And so on. Plus the ending isn't so bad with the EC so that ceases to be an issue as well.

 

Anyway, we're having a blast with the game.

 

A fellow heretic! I've never encountered one before; I don't feel so lonely anymore.

 

I'm joking, of course, but it is nice to see that I'm not the only one who likes ME3 the most.

 

As for me, I'm currently playing Dishonored. This is my second time through, and I'm going for high chaos and no magic/enhancements. It has thus far proved more difficult than my first playthrough, though I suspect that is more due to the high chaos than the magical abstinence; apparently, in addition to increasing the number of rats and Weepers one encounters, high chaos also increases the number of guards. That proved especially problematic on the third floor of the Golden Cat, though it didn't help that for some reason, two guards would suddenly spawn about halfway up the stairs to the third floor.

 

I'm beginning to wonder if I'll finish it right now, however; I just purchased Metal Gear Solid V: Definitive Edition, and I just downloaded Ground Zeroes. I've wanted to play these games the past couple weeks, and I may not be able to wait until I finish Dishonored.

[Queen of Liars]

Played through SUPERHOT yesterday.

It was pretty poor. The core gameplay mechanic was fairly neat, but the actual game didn't do it justice. Kinda felt like the devs were just showing off the basic mechanics without really having built an actual game around them yet. Not to mention all the story aspects being just incredibly obnoxious and poorly implemented.

There being so little content also leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth. I pretty much never complain about how the price of a game compares to its length and think it's a bit dumb to do so in most cases, but this game is really pushing it for even me. Mostly because around half of the already really short game time is spent being annoyed by it. It actually makes me feel like a bit of a fool for paying £10 for it, and that's with it being on a discount.

And as a final note, why, oh why is attacking and picking up an object bound to the same button?

[Pohaturon]

Grabbed Assassin's Creed Rogue when it was on sale these past days. I'm a long time AC fan, however fell out of the loop after Black Flag due to shifting priorities. Figured it's time to catch up!

 

I haven't played too much of it, but I really like how it's bridging the gap between various recent instalments such as AC3, Black Flag and the Freedom Cry expansion. I'm looking forward to getting back into the AC vibe, and the old-muscle memory for the controls ticked right back in.

 

[Katanga]

Been playing a lot of Destiny recently. Almost light level 380.

[Tahtorak ate my house!]

Runescape, though I guess that does not count as a "video game".

 

If we go further back in time however, the most recent video game I have played would be MGSV: The Phantom Pain.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Last game I played was Crusader Kings II. Continuing the chronicle of my custom (fictional) Paerkenon dynasty, which started on the year 1066. Any info set before this date is historical, and not my fun alternate universe history.

 

 

 

The end of what I said last can be considered a bad dream of Emperor Nikodemos, since the ascension of his son Hypatos resulted in only dooms-day level of death and destruction, and the catholic church seized control of the Empire through Hypatos' twin brother Theophilos. In a war between the twins, Hypatos captured his brother and had him blinded (white-hot twin-rods stuck in the eye sockets and melt and scald the eyes). Hypatos was overwhelmed however and was dethroned at sword point by the rebellions leader. Strangely enough, Theophilos did not take Constantinople but rather relocated the capital to the Paerkenon homeland of Brundesium in south Italia (Campania), ending the tradition of the Queen of Cities being the Roman capital since the time of Constantine the Great (mid 300's AD). Theophilos, though blinded and traditionally disqualified from being in the position of Emperor of the Romans, was a catholic traitor to this Hellenistic New Jerusalem, and handed over divine control to the Pope. Upon doing this, he atrociously  defiled Rhomania and renamed it the Latin Empire, and gave Rome back to the Papacy and allowed many Themes to become independent kingdoms. The Roman Empire was no more, and Hypatos died, leaving a 1 year son as ruler of the Constantinople with a jealous uncle guarding him.

 

Now, waking up from this nightmare, Nikodemos lived to see how his vision of the future played out differently. The Crusader State of Egypt was the subject of a large jihad, instead of Roman Syria. The mighty Kingdom of France, wanting prestige and glory, declared war on the ancient empire of Rome, seeking to place the Pope back in the city of Roma, the French assembled a mighty horde to take flight by ship and invade Greece. This wouldn't be the first time Romans had fought the French.

 

After the Conquest of Germania under Emperor Marcus of house Aurelius (which was done by his asinine son Commodus Aurelius), many of the Germanic tribes, influenced by Roman technology, reformed themselves and divided into tribal hordes ruled by Kings. From their home in Frankfurt, the Franks (French) launched a few horde invasions into Roman lands (mostly Gaul), First in the Third Century Crisis, which they were barely repelled by one of the rebellious Roman splinter-empires, a second great invasion repelled by blessed Constantine the Great, and after raids done into Gaul and  soldiers of Gaul being drained by the ambitious and rebellious self-crowned Constantine III, Gaul was overrun by Visigoths, and both the Roman successor state of Soissons and the Kingdom of Visigothia were overwhelmed and steam-rolled by the mighty horde by the barbarian Frankish king, Clovis (the Visigoths being pushed into Hispania and being the precursors to the modern Castillians of Spain). Clovis may have destroyed the last trace of Rome in Gaul, but he was forced to embrace the citizens of Soissons in order to control them, and so went under a shallow false-conversion to win the hearts of his citizens and gain prestigious blessings from the influential Patriarch of Roma (later dubbed The Pope), as well as begin the latinization of his people. Since then, the West was largely lost to the Roman Empire and the Franks fileld up their powerful and divine vacuum left in their absence, (as shown by the victory of Charles the Hammer in the Battle of Tours against a mighty muslim invasion into Gaul) as such to the point that the Patriarch of Rome decreed the Franks to be the new 'true' Romans and crowned his own emperor, an anti-emperor if you will, in the form of Karl Karling the Great, aka Charlemagne. This is a great insult to the post-Theodosian Roman Empire, as it was not only an affront to their status of divine power on earth, but also an insult to their nation and culture, the barbarians of the lost West throwing around 'Roman' like its a title of power and not also a name for a nation of people.

 

So despite the Imperial Romans and the Frenks (French) not having crossed swords for many centuries, there is a lot of antagonizing between the two people that has been building up to this point. But the Romans under Nikodemos did not under estimate their foe. No. For despite the many divisions and unifications of the Franks since the time of Clovis, they have shown that when united these latinized germans are a force to be reckoned with, and at this time they were united and strong. In the year 1202, tens of thousands of soldiers were raised on both sides, and Nikodemos, from his capital infirm, sent them to Italy to meet them in between their homes in honorable combat. But these Franks, 'kelts' as all 'barbaric' latin westerners were called, landed in  Hellas (Greece) and ravaged villages. The troops were recalled and faced them in terrible combat along the coasts. After the initial force was defeated after a year of bloodshed, Nikodemos sought to give the invaders a taste of their own medicine and sent large armies to Gaul (Francia) and secured the southern shores. Then he had two of the armies merge into one, 20,000 man strong, march through the rolling hills and vineyards and besieged the Isle of Paris. His men exacted their revenge for centuries of insult and Paris and all local cities were thoroughly sacked. The war lasted a little longer, but eventually the French King found he needed to surrender, and gave up on his path to glory via the Pope.

 

 

 

 

 

 

French War for Rome  was the last the elderly man would guide, and Nikodemos Porphyrrogenettos Paerkenon died at the age of 62 on the year 1206,  after 24 or so years of rule. On his deathbed, he hoped his new heir, his son Konstantinos (Constantius), would lead to prosperity and not the destruction caused in the wake of his other son Hypatos as forseen in his dream. Konstantios IV Paerkenon assumed power in 1206, and was crowned as a Strong Basileus. He is the first Emperor to bear the name Constantius (the original being the father of Constantine the Great) since the 410's, 800 years prior to his own life. And despite being younger then his twin older brothers, Konstantios was Purple-Born so he was first in line. He immediately sought out non-violence treaties with his family members, his uncle Isaakios (young half-brother of Nikodemos) and older brother Hypatos. Hypatos' twin Theophilos, however, was bitter that he was not crowned, darn the sacred purple-rock birth chamber, and the said Doux of Apoulia and Strateghos of Thrake (Thrace) actively holds a grudge and meets with other disgruntled vassals on how to undermine their Emperor. on his first day Konstantios  revoked titles from imprisoned douxoi and strategoi(?) and gave it to people more befitting for such landed titles. Such rearrangements annoyed many vassals, but none would be able to voice their opposition in time, for a few days after the coronation (which was a couple weeks after the death of old Nikodemos) the familiar curse of War would return to Roman lands.

 

Very shortly after the coronation of the new Basileus of Rhomania Konstantious IV Paerkenon, the far away island-bound Kingdom of England sought to take the challenge which the French failed: restore the Papacy to the city of Roma. Learning from the last war of his father Nikodemos, Konstantios 4th readied his forces at Greece and Anatolia but wisely not raising all levies across his realm. He would have wished he raised more of them, however, as the Aenglish managed to defeat a couple 20,000 troop-sized armies! Amazed at Saxon-strength, Konstantios raised more levies and led them personally to battle accompanied by his uncle Isaakios and the head of his pagan Varagnian Guard (this viking lord being the best swordsman of all Rhomania). From the Aegean islands of Naxos to the East Anatolian lands of Smyrna and Ephesus did the English win and lose, these 'barbarians' proving to be equals to ancient Rome by warrior valor. It wasn't until the climatic Battle of Madyta in 1207 where did both sides in this theatre of war pour all their soldiers into this settlement that trailed West of New Rome along the Marmara Sea. it is by the pride of the swords of Godwin did the English did fall in battle that day for even though more men kept arriving to the battle by Roman ship (46,900 Roman men in total at battle's end), it was not all at once, and in fact an unwise river-cross is what sealed the deal. More soldiers were already coming from across the Pillars of Hercules but the English defeat at Madyta was a turning point in the war. From there, Emperor Konstantios divided his horde of order, half to say and keep the homeland safe, the other to sail the seas and once again lay British earth before marching Roman foot!

 And so they did as such, following the holy words of their heavenly emperor. Roman ships flying sails with ancient Roman red and bearing the gold-trimmed Chi Rho Labarum, the holy sign of Rome and God as shown to Constantine and sealed by Theodosius.

 

 

After a month out at sea and stopped by ports, England came into sight over the curvature of the sea (which Greeks believed the world to be round), and rather than immediately invade upon landing, Konstantios IV commanded that they continue skipping around the coast until the reached the shore of the English capital province. They knew their course because they had maps dating back to when they still owned all that could be seen in this area. The Romans landed their fire ships (ships that had cannons which spewed liquid flame that could not be doused by water) and marched on Lundunwick (which the Romans persisted on calling Londinium). They were met with some resistance, mostly the armies of rebels that were fighting a civil war with England. The Saxon king was stubborn, however, and despite the romans marching across south-east England and many settlements fallign to them, he would not give out. The most unexpected thing happened at this time, however: The Holy Roman Empire declared war on the true Roman Empire. It would be dubbed the 'Roman Twain Roman War', and their declaration to capture Latium for themselves went out to the Emperor Konstantios IV in England. The situation was bad, for the Germans of the HRE held a great horde of untold numbers, and their recent acquisition of Burgundy, Sweden, Norway, and Poland gave them greater numbers still. Konstantios had to act fast, and so raised all the levies the great Roman Empire had to offer, destroyed what remaining English were in Greece and Asia (Minor), and rushed them to Italy by great fleets. This would all take a while though, and before the war started the Holy Roman Empire of Germania had relocated it's capital to Bologna, Italia.  Konstantious IV Paerkenon had heard that the king of Aengland was returning from dealing with a raiding Danish tribe, and so boarded his ship with a sizeable portion of his invasion force and met the King in-between England and Jutland, and there was a naval battle that resulted in the capture of the English king, his fleet being unable to withstand the fire ships of Konstantinopoulis and so most of the English either drowned or burned to a crisp. The war with England was ended at sword point and England was left to it's civil war and the remnant of Roman conflict scarred on it's hide. Two Roman hordes await in italy.

 

 

 

 

Runescape, though I guess that does not count as a "video game".

 

If we go further back in time however, the most recent video game I have played would be MGSV: The Phantom Pain.

I count Runescape as a video-game, why would it not be?

[Pohaturon]

I've gotten around to catching up on my Assassin's Creed, and have been playing Rogue recently. While I miss the sunny tropical islands and clear turquoise water of Black Flag's setting, I like how Rogue took many of the gameplay aspects and refined them further. The whole Templar angle is refreshing, and having played quite a bit (didn't progress far in the story, since I got bogged down with the collectibles), Rogue is a strong contender for entering my top three AC games. Currently Black Flag, 2 and Brotherhood occupy those positions, but Rogue might end up knocking down Brotherhood to fourth place. 

 

In case anyone cares, here is my ranking of the AC games (main titles):

1. Black Flag
2. 2
3. Brotherhood (maybe Rogue)
4. Rogue (maybe Brotherhood)
5. 3
6. Revelations
7. 1

I have yet to play Unity and Syndicate, though I hear Unity is pretty bland, while Syndicate is a strong comeback to quality. I'm anticipating the movie, which unfortunately only opens on the 29th here in Hungary :/

 

[Tarn]

destiny. i got an imago loop finally!

...but it was a perk roll only good in pve

(also i now have three, technically four good ldrs someone please help they won't stop dropping for me)

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

I have been playing Mount and Blade: Warband, with the fan-made module Nova Aetas and another call The Last Days of the Third Age

 

First mod is set in Mount and Blade's fictional world/continent, Calradia, but set the game a couple centuries later into the mid 1400's, with medieval stuff fading away and the renaissance, the protestant reformation, over-seas colonization, and gunpowder warfare on the rise. it adds a lot of stuff into the game (such as farming, harvesting wood and stone, making colonies over seas, and others), and the quality of the mod is so good you could swear it was created by a paid group of game developers. My character's name here is Kertavus, name coming from my version of Certavus from my project A Rude Awakening. Just wish i could make his skin light blue...

 

Second mod is set in Tolkien's Middle-Earth Legendarium, just prior to the War of the Ring when the dark lord Sauron is gathering the forces of darkness, and after 50-70 days the war is launched. This is a great mod but it is focused around warfare so you don't have nearly as much game-play content as Nova Aetas, but you do get to roam the lands between the evil humans west of Isengard, all the way up to the angular mountains of Mordor (but can't go into the ash-ridden valley itself, though Barad-Dur and Mount Doom are visible). The mod uses mostly a mixture of designs from the movies and original inspirations from the books. It is really cool to play. I am playing as a female corsair of Umbar named Hera Swords-Scathe, my personal aim to become the Pirate Queen under Sauron.

 

To those that play this game (save console players), I fully recommend trying these out, and can be found on Steam Workshop and ModDB.

[Zeddy]

Been playing Overcooked solo recently. My hands hurt and my brain hurts.

 

And also Hitman. Great game to just walk around and take in the scenery. That's the point of it, right?

[PutYaGunsOn]

Just started a new 23rd Century/TOS character in Star Trek: Online today.  He's a character I made in previous games who found himself in the Star Trek universe, became a redshirt, miraculously survived despite said red shirt, and then got promoted due to just being a complete and utter boss.

[Pohaturon]

Tried getting back into Red Faction: Guerrilla now that my wife got me a controller for Christmas. There is a fun game hidden in there somewhere, but the KB/M controls make it unplayable, no matter how much you customize them. No amount of keybind and sensitivity tweaking resulted in a scheme that didn't make by cranial fluid boil after a few minutes.

Now that I hooked up the controller, I'm having fun again. It's still a bit frustrating how the most basic of enemies can take several shotgun shots to the face and merrily run around, and how in spite of being encouraged to use the hammer, story missions repeatedly place you in situations where doing so is a death sentence, but the destruction mechanics are fun and the game is fairly unique.

Shooting mechanics are still butt, though. Not sure if I have the measure of patience required to finish this game.

 

[Noxryn]

League of Legends ft. Me playing Camille. 

 

Maybe I fed maybe I didn't you'll never know.

[The Hip Historian Iaredios]

Last game i played was Batman: The Telltale Series.

 

It is set early in Batman's carrier in it's own continuity, and for a nice change, no joker in sight, only mobsters and a certain jewel thief. I feel like he is going to pop up eventually though, as producers sure do love to make bank on this character.

 

I love this game so far, can't wait to play the other episodes. In-fact, it makes me want to tryout other Telltale games. I have their first two Walking Dead games, but never played them. Perhaps I should given them a spin.

[BrickPharaoh]

Finally got around to making a YGO DevPro account and currently trying to perfect my decks.

 

Anyone on here plays?

 

[Noxryn]

Finally got around to making a YGO DevPro account and currently trying to perfect my decks.

 

Anyone on here plays?

 

 

it always surprises me to hear YGO still being around, it's been like... 13? Years since i was like last into it, pretty neat tho hope you're havin fun

 

 

 

last game i played was Heroes of the Storm, sorta just been on a Kael'thas kick in that title. kinda miss the Blizzard people i used to play with every now and again, but o well 

[Kahu Rider 13]

Crypt of the NecroDancer. It's a brutally difficult game, especially when you're trying to speedrun it....which I currently am, without much (if any) success . 

[Pohaturon]

Broken Sword 3: The Serpent's Curse. It's funny how the worst entry in a franchise is still better than some of the high-budget AAA sludge that the industry produces these days. I'm playing it with my Wife, as I myself have played through Broken Swords 1 through 4 several times and 5 twice, while I'm introducing her to the series. We've played 1,2 and 5 together and are doing 3 and 4 now, almost done with 3.

 

While the box puzzles are a step down from ye olde point'n'click goodness, but the writing is still top notch and the series atmosphere and feel is still there. Sure, it isn't nearly as good as Shadow of the Templars or Smoking Mirror, but it's still pretty great. 

 

[Chronicler06]

After taking a break for a few months, I'm now back to playing Civilization V. More specifically, I have now begun to play through the second expansion pack, Brave New World.

 

Before anyone mentions it, yes, I'm aware that Civilization VI came out a few months ago. The thing for me is that these Civilizations game are very time-consuming, with a single game typically taking me two or there days to complete. The fact that I'm only now finally getting to some content that came out about three years ago shows just how far behind the times I've fallen. And since I've heard that Civ VI has the same issue with Civ V that's always bugged me (slow to process AI turns, especially on larger maps), I've decided that I will not be getting Civ VI at all. Instead, I'm going to get as much done on Civ V: Brave New World as I can this year (yes, I anticipate I'll be busy with this game for months), then once I'm finished with that, that'll be the last time I ever plan on playing any game from the Civilization franchise.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Chronicler06

[Taka Nuvia]

Recently finished The Nightmare Before Christmas - Oogie's Revenge. And it was more fun than I had expected. In fact there were many things I liked about it a lot. ^^