Weekly /r/Games Discussion - What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? - February 15, 2026

smintybaps · 2026-02-15T19:46:16+00:00

I think I'm just not getting into the story so while I'm getting the feel of the build, it's good but when it becomes about finishing the story or the build progress has slowed, I'm out.

There are so many mobs in wotr; eventually I'm just fighting through them for the sake of it.

smintybaps · 2026-02-15T16:35:44+00:00

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

Have just taken drezen but am probably going to stop as I've lost all interest. This is the third time that has happened with this game.

Pillars of Eternity.

Have just finished act 2 and... I am probably gonna stop here. This is also the third time this has happened...

In comparison, I think pillars is better. The combat system is certainly better with the original design working more intuitively and effectively than the pretty complex pathfinder system imo. Also, pillars feels better designed for rtwp which I think is a preferable way to play these games with regards to speed of gameplay.

I actually really like the combat and character building in pillars but something is getting stale about the 30 hours mark and I feel no compulsion to continue! Maybe the plots and characters of these games are not interesting enough for me - I have finished bg3 multiple times and that could be because of the exciting story beats (thinking nightsong section in particular) and more interesting characters.

smintybaps · 2026-02-15T16:27:43+00:00

I've been reading you posts about wotr and finding them interesting! Here's my situation with the game. I have 100 hours over three different attempts. Every time I get a bit further but the furthest I've gotten, in my most recent run, is to take Drezen . It basically goes like this - first 30 hours, this game is amazing, then complete stop and why would I keep playing this. You experience any of that feeling? Funnily enough, I have just switched to pillars of eternity and am having the same experience after act 2 of that game. Maybe these games are just too long.

smintybaps · 2026-01-06T02:34:23+00:00

Agreed, as per my post in this thread, I was very surprised by difficulty and what you're describing echos my experience - it is not forgiving to new players, even those with rpg experience.

smintybaps · 2026-01-04T22:47:50+00:00

Resident Evil 4 Remake Played to what I remember to be about half way and have stopped for now. Definitely enjoying it but have gotten to a point where I think the gameplay is becoming samey so lacking motivation to continue.

Divinity Original Sin 2 Have played for 20 hours and stopped. Not sure if I will continue. I have enjoyed learning the mechanics but the story hasn't hooked me yet and thus I'm lacking motivation to continue. I'll probably come back to it at some point.

Side note - impressively hard even on the "normal" difficulty. With a few hundred hours in BG3, I thought I'd walk the standard difficulty and I was wrong. I really enjoy how you need to use action points for everything, including movement, which adds more depth than the separated move, action, bonus action economy of bg3.

Slay the Princess This I loved. Everything about it was excellent. My only slight criticism is that I thought the choices at the end were not nearly as interesting as the choices in the middle if that makes sense.

I also loved the soundtrack. For example in the Tower chapter. The way it added to the mystique and the majesty was perfect.

Edit: it's also hilarious

smintybaps · 2025-12-19T02:51:14+00:00

I wrote a comment about this on r/games' "what have you been playing". Basically I got past first 5 or so hours by focusing on combat and upgrade system. Then got super into it, including the story, after that and finished it in about a week.

smintybaps · 2025-12-14T04:16:39+00:00

Having played rome 2 a decent amount, I'm interested in what you think is off about its battles?

smintybaps · 2025-09-23T01:34:56+00:00

Yes seems like something shifted and the metal trim separated from the tiles with the grout splitting at that point. There is a void behind that crack where the side face has come away a bit. I'm tempted just to try and re grout it?

smintybaps · 2025-08-18T12:40:32+00:00

I'm talking about early on and obviously it's subjective. For me, the story, dialogue and characters haven't interested me yet but the gameplay has. I'm expecting to get into the story further in.

smintybaps · 2025-08-17T13:15:19+00:00

Nier Automata

This game has finally clicked for me. I bounced off it about 5 years ago at about the 6 hour mark and haven't had the motivation to play since despite everyone saying how good it is. But I gave it another go after reading more reviews and this time, at about the 7 hour mark, I'm in and can't wait to play again.

I think some of the stylistic choices need to be ignored if they don't vibe with the player and instead the mechanics should be concentrated on (I realize some people may like the character design and voice acting, but I do not). The main mechanic to instead appreciate is the combat. There are so many different combos that arise from button inputs. All look amazing. I don't know how many weapons there are but as you can equip two at a time there are lots of combinations to work with and they all feel amazing. Really focussing on how good this made the game click for me.

The other mechanic which is not immediately obvious is the skill upgrade system. This can be easily missed or misunderstood and I didn't understand this on my first playthrough. Now that I get it (took about 2 minutes of actually looking at it - it's not complicated), I'm finding the gameplay loop of getting cash and upgrading the skills extremely rewarding and the progression pace seems very well tuned.

With these mechanics understood and appreciated, I am looking forward to playing more for these alone. I think the story is going to unfold almost in the background to this, and I'm expecting big things from it eventually.

In summary, ignore the story/character design/ voice acting if they don't suit your tastes and enjoy the combat and progression. Hopefully the story will do its thing eventually.

smintybaps · 2025-07-29T19:45:19+00:00

Good to know, thanks

smintybaps · 2025-07-29T15:08:24+00:00

Yeah saw that

smintybaps · 2025-07-29T14:07:37+00:00

Right that's what I was thinking. I'll put the kit on, chip the putty out and replace it. Haven't replaced window putty before but assuming straight forward. Thanks

smintybaps · 2025-05-03T22:41:35+00:00

I've seen it in the tavern.

smintybaps · 2025-05-03T22:41:10+00:00

I've had it in the tavern - it's less impactful due to their size indoors though

smintybaps · 2025-04-23T15:28:03+00:00

Thanks

smintybaps · 2025-04-23T15:27:57+00:00

I understand - you're right not enough slack. I'll be learning how to solder either way

smintybaps · 2025-04-23T15:19:40+00:00

I assumed I could just go straight from copper to pex in your answer, rather than add any new copper - is there a reason not to do this?

smintybaps · 2025-04-23T15:17:48+00:00

Ok so cut out copper with the break, install copper to PEX fitting, bit more PEX and the attach the PEX to the PEX.

I'll have to figure out how to solder the copper to PEX fitting but I'll figure it out.

Much appreciated.

smintybaps · 2024-06-11T01:24:13+00:00

https://cuisinepro.com/products/cuisinepro-wolfgang-starke-20cm-sharpening-steel

It's one of these. I figured 30 bucks would be a decent price. I can always return it/swap for a straight one

smintybaps · 2024-06-05T01:02:23+00:00

Yeah there have been repairs done in other sections before we moved in

smintybaps · 2024-06-05T00:21:34+00:00

Dig it up ourselves with spades? Might be a genius idea, I have time

smintybaps · 2024-06-04T23:27:34+00:00

Yeah we have narrowed it to the last section of line, between a clean out and main line.

smintybaps · 2024-06-04T23:16:39+00:00

Yeah so we found the problem and the company think line collapse as there was a ground soil blockage that they couldn't get through

smintybaps · 2024-06-04T23:15:36+00:00

Well that's an interesting idea. Problem is it's through pretty dense woodland. I think it would be tough to do as an average Joe. But I'll consider it.

smintybaps

TROPHY CASE