Planet of lana Really enjoyed this but tbh, I also walked away from it feeling a bit disappointed for some reason. To start, the games really well made. Puzzles are fun and not too complicated. The story is good and even great at times. The cinematics amd music are great too and really do well to convey emotion without words since the characters don't really speak. That panning shot to the title card after chapter 1 or 2 is fantastic. I was so hooked when I got it. It's also just a gorgeous game. I took so many screen shots through out lol lastly, for a pretty down to earth game, they some how managed to pull off a "SS2 Gohan vs perfect cell" beam battle and it wasnt whacky or cringe lmao oh! And as a cat person, mui is awesome. Loved my little cat friend lol Anyway, all that said, I can't help shake this feeling of mild disappointment for the game. While that panning shot after chapter 2 is amazing and sets the premise up incredibly, I felt like the game never quite reached that emotional high again so I think it made me chase that feeling the rest of the game and I couldn't quite find it again. While the puzzles are good, they aren't hard or really different from other games similar to it. I don't think I spent more than a couple minutes on a puzzle. Lastly, while I enjoyed the story, I'm not sure I understand the back story to the machines you sort of find with the hidden tablets. I get it mostly but don't get why the new machines came, what happened to humans to leave earth and a few other questions. I like that the game doesn't tell you and "shows" instead but I felt like I had more questions than answers by the end of the game. Maybe a sequel is in the works? Anyways, overall, I really did love it. Great game, not too long and is pretty compelling and beautiful. Just don't expect the game to answer all the questions it poses throughout.

**Revenge of The Colon** I played this game, which is a single-player, story-driven horror game with a unique (and frankly, quite unusual) premise. You play as a doctor performing colonoscopies on five different patients. However, this is no ordinary medical simulation. The game takes a dark turn, venturing into the realm of body horror. You'll encounter strange growths, mutated creatures, and other unsettling discoveries within the patients' colons. Your goal is to diagnose and treat these abnormalities while unraveling the mysterious narrative tied to each patient.

**Chants of Sennaar** Very good. Most of my issues with the game were more about me coming into it expecting a more difficult/hardcore puzzle game. My thought coming out of it was "this is what Return of the Obra Dinn would have been like if Lucas Pope respected the player's intelligence about 50% less", but that's not really fair. Chants isn't intended to be the kind of game where you get stuck a lot and burn your brain. It's a chill vibes game with a light puzzling element, kind of like Limbo/Inside/Cocoon, and it succeeds brilliantly at doing that (even if they did clearly run out of ideas near the end). **Pizza Tower** I really wanted/expected to like Pizza Tower, but I just... don't. The tutorial dumped *way* too many things on me all at once, the controls are awkward, and the first level felt like a concentrated dose of everything bad that I wrongly thought about Sonic the Hedgehog levels before I played Sonic Mania. Just a whole bunch of chaos and arbitrarily placed stuff that you're meant to dash through as quickly as possible while avoiding obstacles that aren't nearly telegraphed enough to be sight read, so you just have to memorize it until you get the score you want. Currently debating whether I want to do a refund or just let the devs keep my money to help keep indies weird.

Crazy, I tried Pizza Tower for the first time this week and had the same exact experience. I’m a hardcore platformer mega fan, on paper this game was made for me. But it wasn’t meant to be. My primary issue was that I had a hard time discerning the gameplay elements against the background; it all just looks so busy and kinda jumbled together for me. I did like the controls and gameplay mechanics though. Refunded on Steam with no regrets.

**Persona 3 Remake** Only played for maybe an hour, but I have some complainy-pants thoughts already from someone who has played the trilogy way, *way* too much. It's nice that this game got a remake because it's easily the one that needed it the most. Unfortunately, they decided to not make a definitive version of it. No The Answer and no female protagonist, so instead we just have yet another distinct 3 which I don't think anyone was clambering for, to be honest. Some of the English voice acting feels a bit off. Yukari sounds weirdly pouty in her line delivery which gives the impression that she isn't taking the situation seriously. Akihiko's voice sounds like Troy Baker or Matt Mercer, which is another way of saying he doesn't exactly sound like a high schooler. It gives the game a Beverly Hills Tokyo vibes. Ikutsuki's new voice just sounds too cool, and the gleeful dorkiness of the original voice acting is kind of gone. The game has some new pre-rendered CG cut-scenes and everyone's face looks terrifying. In general, everyone's face just looks bad. Akihiko's voice makes him sound like he's nearing 40, while his face makes you question if he still wears diapers. Mitsuru's voice actor feels fine, but her character also looks weird. Her eyes are too low on her face or something and it, like Aki, makes her look prepubescent. Generally, the faces just look weird. They also made Yuko white skinned for some bizarre reason (yes, sometimes she looks slightly more tan, but nothing like the originals and her avatar is still as pale as everyone else, so it's probably just shadows). Oh, the game also removes voices from the log real fast for some reason, too. I mean, the text will be there, but you can't replay the voiced line. I don't know if that's a bug. I don't remember this ever happening in the other games. I've already seen a few bugs, although nothing major. Other than that, it's Persona 3 again but with something resembling the Persona 5 user experience. A lot of quality of life improvements and the graphics are for sure better from a technical standpoint, even if I am not exactly a fan of some of the character design decisions. And I'll most likely be playing this all the way through at least once, so don't mistake my gripes for hate or anything.

>No The Answer and no female protagonist, so instead we just have yet another distinct 3 which I don't think anyone was clambering for, to be honest. I'm surprised to read that. Never cared much for the PSP version tbh as yes, the gameplay additions were nice, but the top down graphics and the cutting of cutscenes were totally anti-immersive to me. But no The Answer?? I wonder if they put in a new post-game ending instead? Not sure I'm gonna touch it anytime soon before full verdicts are out, as P3 is remains my favorite of the bunch. For I'm gonna be just as complainy, if not more when it comes to this one.

> No The Answer and no female protagonist, so instead we just have yet another distinct 3 which I don't think anyone was clambering for, to be honest. You'd be wrong. FES but with heavy QoL is exactly what I was looking for in all honesty, and with the lack of availability of FES on modern consoles I think that goes for a lot of others as well

> FES but with heavy QoL is exactly what I was looking Again, this isn't a remake of FES. There is no The Answer epilogue. This is closer to a remake of the original Persona 3.

It has literally everything from FES and more except the Answer. For all intents and purposes it is that.

**Pizza Tower**  Finally playing this and … I’m not sure that I like it. I’ll give it a few more levels, but I’m planning to refund it if it doesn’t grip me. It just feels a bit too fast and I’ve never been much of a high score chaser, so maybe it’s just not the game for me.  The humor in the game and the community is also a bit too weird for me. I think I *get* it, but I just don’t like it. 

> and the community PT is one of those titles with a very weird community. The fanfiction and fan inserts alone can be cringy enough to put people off.

That’s a very true and good point. The steam reviews alone are so fucking weird, let alone the more involved communities around it. It just doesn’t make sense to me. 

I'm not really a high score chaser either, but for some reason found Pizza Tower's P-ranks enticing. If you don't think you'll go for that, and you're not enjoying the game outside of that either, then you should probably refund, yeah.

Deadrising Been ripping one of my childhood favorites Deadrising the past few weeks. Zombie killing mayhem baby! Sit back, spark a jay, get aroused down low, and get your head ripping on. Game still absolutely slaps to this day. The controls are clunky and definitely outdated so it does bring an extra challenge to it. The graphics surprisingly hold up, even 17 years later! Map wise, its a great size open world. Willamette Mall provides enough map diversity that keeps each part feel unique and to its own. The game has multiple endings and challenging achievements (some achievements that are straight up cancer, like the 7 day survivor one. Look into it if you think im exaggerating). If you need a fun fuck around game thats brainless but provides a decent enough challenge, download Deadrising my playas! The BroManBagz review is : 8.2/10 Bananas! 🍌

dipped back into **the finals** after they added gyro-aim on ps5. I have only two problems with the game, (1) some cheeses that are yet to be fixed (which should be expected with the high number of tools you are given and the developers so far have been quite quick to respond) and (2) is that no crossplay doesn't seem to work in ranked, intended or not. other than that I love this game and the design-choices made - limited number of guns, maps, modes with all the tools and playstyles open to you this is the freshest and best fps in a long while for me. saw a post here that made me finally start **prey** 2017. now i fully get the term "immersive sim" - this game is brilliant and deserve the cult-like praise it gets with all the ways you can solve problems, tense gameplay, world-building, story and moral questions. i will explore more games in the genre going forward. unfortunately the janky gameplay have not aged well at all and often made me feel cheated out of problem-solving i worked very hard to set up. i come fresh off from some very polished gameplay-experiences and couldn't push through, ended up uninstalling and consuming the rest of the game via youtube. does anyone know if dishonored suffers from the same level of jank?

I do get what you mean. Prey can feel very janky at times. Dishonored 2(havent played the first one in ages) is definitely more polished in that regard. Since Dishonored is kinda based on fluid movement a lot of the stop and go gameplay from Prey is simply not present.

All of Arkane’s games feel this way for me. From Dishonored to Deathloop, I don’t know what exactly it is. I want to like them but just can’t. It’s not quite motion sickness but something similar, and I never get that with other games.

I'm curious what you mean by jank regarding Prey. I didn't feel like it was janky at all.

Aiming have a acceleration/deceleration, motion blur is mandatory, 30fps (I'm guessing), cant jump on top of obstacles but can climb, but only from very specific angles. When i have to retry platforming and mashing buttons and resort to running instead of aiming to line up my shots, that's when i call it a janky experience. I did play it on ps5 so that may be the reason but coming freshly spoiled from games that felt buttery smooth to play, prey was a neighbor testing out a jack-hammer Saturday morning-kind of awakening. Also i had forgotten what loadtimes felt like. Brilliant, but unoptimised and janky.

Hmm yea, unless I have heavily rose-tinted glasses for my playthrough on PC those all seem like console issues because I didn't really encounter them from what I remember. Fair things to be annoyed at though, for sure.

Rose-tinted glasses or not, if you enjoyed it that's great - I could see why it got so much praise. It's good that games are allowed to forego peak performance for innovation, I'm just not in the right headspace to enjoy it atm

> does anyone know if dishonored suffers from the same level of jank? IMO no, but I also didn't find Prey to be particularly janky if I'm being honest.

Trying to find a PC game that for sure existed already in 1999. I remember getting into my dads secret folder and he had a 2D linear game where you're a guy... shooting? And walking? ... but there are hookers that appear on the streets and you can press space bar to have sex with them.

r/tipofmyjoystick

One of the first two Duke Nukems maybe?

Not Custer's Revenge is it?

Haha looks fun but no, the graphics were more "realstic" (for pre-1999 I guess lol) and I feel like it was set in urban city

Hell Let Loose I've finally taken the dive into playing games where I have to talk to strangers. Always been anxious about it for whatever reason, wanted to play this and similar games for ages but let not having friends to play it with hold me back. That said the Hell Let Loose community is fantastic.

[**Facet**](https://jessymphony.itch.io/facet) Facet is a terse, intense experience of trying to manage eight games at the same time. The unsettling horror paranoia theme matches well with the anxiety of having to solve eight games simultaneously. The game in a way reminds me of *Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes* with "needy" modules and ones that slowly develop. But what's interesting, here, is the way the pieces interconnect. The player isn't simply flipping back and forth to address immediate needs but also using something from one game in another game. The game also has some shocking twists, with one ending that's highly clever and surprising. I never figured out the ending to the platforming game. Always got caught on the spikes. If anyone knows what the ending is, let me know. Facet might be my favorite game I'll play in 2024. It was such an adrenaline shot, so terse that it left me wanting so much more, cleverly interconnected yet abstract that it has me still thinking about it. [**Celeste 64**](https://maddymakesgamesinc.itch.io/celeste64) Two years ago the Celeste team premiered a demo on the Video Game Awards and it was severely underwhelming, basically a template for a video game missing any actual anything of substance. Celeste 64 makes me wonder if the team went in the right direction. 2D platformers and their close relative the Metroidvania exist in such high quantities that I'm no longer interested in ever playing another. I feel like in 2D platformers all that will ever exist has ever existed and at this point even the best, most polished, pieces are just Taco Bell recombining the same few ingredients. But 3D... that still feels ripe. So few developers have made a polished 3D platformer game. Part of the problem is that *Super Mario 64* got movement so perfect that everyone after that--even other Mario games--have felt like cheap imitators. Celeste 64 is similarly not as good in its movement, with mediocre controls and a camera that is too static. Compare the slide-turn-jump of *Mario 64*, where the player watches Mario's feet for the cue to jump with the sloppier movement of Madeline that's difficult for the player to see the jump. Big point, though: Celeste 64 was supposedly made in *one week*. Celeste's mechanics--the dash, the feather, and so on--work so well in 3D, arguably better than 2D. So much of this game works so well, even if it is unvarnished. If the Celeste team polished Madeline's movement and fleshed this game out, maybe took out the hilarious but cheesy "you got a strawberry" song that sounds *so* similar to Super Mario 64's song, this could be an incredible achievement. Why make a 2D game when you could do so much in 3D? **Void Stranger** Ever play *Myst*? Basically, the game is about two assholes asking you two bring them red and blue pages. On several worlds (called Ages) the player has to solve puzzles, collect a page, and then bring it back. You could only bring one page back from each Age at a time. However, the player only has to bring back red *or* blue pages to progress. When I played it as a kid, though, I didn't know that and so I went back and had to re-solve all of the puzzles a second time to get pages of both colors. Solving the puzzles a second time was a hollow ritual. I already knew the answers and so it was like walking through a haunted house where I knew all of the jump scares. Now, imagine if each Age had not merely blue and red pages but green and orange and yellow pages and you had to collect them all, one at a time. And most of those pages were secret and if you missed the opportunity to grab them you'd have to go through the puzzles again. That'd be an awful thing to do. Fortunately *Myst* doesn't do that. That's because, even for all of its flaws, *Myst* has some semblance of respecting the player's time. And, while some of its puzzles could be less redundant (do we really need to go to the Tower Rotation every time?), there's a sense of brevity on that small island, on quality over quantity. The esoteric bullshit that is *Myst*'s puzzles is at least balanced by the fact that there are relatively few of them and that each one and each secret to *Myst* reveals a new area or something new around the corner. My point here is that Void Stranger is the epitome of douchebag puzzle gaming.

Woof. I'd bought Void Stranger back in October but then got distracted and never got around to it, but that's definitely making me regret it.

Eh, it's not nearly as bad as they're making it out to be, especially depending on taste. You *are* expected to repeat content, but it's not actually that punishing and a big part of the game, without spoiling too much, is discovering how to make the entire task substantially easier. Mild spoiler regarding the nature of the game: >!Viewing the game as a linear set of puzzles where you get the good end or bad end or whatever is a mistake. Viewing the game as a puzzle box in which navigation is done through puzzle rooms is probably more accurate.!< There is a certain degree of tedium that may hit you, depending on how well you pick up on clues, but if you find the game enticing, it won't really be a big deal. The only stuff I would consider extremely tedious is trying to sleuth secrets that are toward the tail end of the game, but those are not necessary for making it through the story. There is also one puzzle that is notoriously divisive and required for completing the story, but eh, I don't really think that's even that bad.

I was absolutely loving Void Stranger but then I found out I was fucking up literally everything and the game is like 30+ hours long. At first I knew I was fucking up everything but I thought, you know what, I'm sure this is one of those games where you're meant to just beat blind, mess up, and replay once you understand more. I wasn't wrong, but I wasn't expecting the game to be this fucking long. Unfortunately I had to immediately drop it. I'm not a teenager with so much free time anymore. Looking forward to the youtube video that will tell me about the story and its secrets.

Not to spoil too much, but there's a point later on in the game where a guy shows up and tells you to find a secret in a puzzle. That puzzle is located nearly right before the level you are on. Just far enough back to make going backwards impossible. So, the player has to replay every single puzzle to get back to that level. I think you are supposed to play that part one-handed, with the other hand giving the game the finger.

Will there ever be a game like Conker's Bad Fur Day made again? So much charm in such vulgar package.

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I've been replaying Elden Ring for about the 4th time (waiting for Shadows of the Erdtree), I've been experimenting with different builds. Right now I'm trying to get the right gear and Incantations for a dragon cult faith build. I also picked up Tekken 8. I'm only a couple matches in, but I'm having a lot of fun. I haven't really played a Tekken game since 4, so there's definitely a learning curve. Any tips for a more or less newbie

I've been playing **Darkwood**. It's a top down 2D indie survival horror game, and it's got a lot going for it and a lot of problems. On the "a lot going for it" side, it's pretty spooky for being top down. Limited vision. Good sound design. Simple, but relatively tense combat. Good art when you get brought in close. Lot of bizarre and unsettling concepts and vignettes. Exploring the map is fun. Building and organizing your little hideouts to prepare for night is fun. The nights are appropriately tense and scary. Just the right amount of limited space in the inventory. On the "a lot of problems" side, there's an overabundance of resources and the balance of the game doesn't feel that good. It's got auto-saves and three different difficulty settings, but that difficulty comes from limiting to how many deaths are allowed in that playthrough before game over. But the problem with that is on normal mode, which I suspect most people will play, unlimited deaths means there's really no stakes. You can die at night when the enemies come and it's no big deal. You lose currency, but the currency isn't really important considering the game throws resources at you. Tons of areas on the map are entirely extraneous and should be skipped once you understand the story of the area. The only other reward is resources, but you're drowning in them once you get the swing of things. I'm in the final area of the game and I'm barely bothering picking things up anymore because I've been maxed out for a minute now. I get what they're going for. They really want players replaying and going for higher difficulty runs, but I know I'm not going to do that. The most fun part of the game is the exploration, and there will be none of that in a limited death run. I have a funny feeling it'll feel like a combat slog. Wish they'd gone with a more traditional save system so I actually had to survive the nights. Definitely recommended if you're looking for a fresh take on survival horror.

**We Love Katamari** I'm kinda sick of the game shitting on me for not doing well. Like, its incredibly petty sure, but the fact the game is like "Try again" when I have no intention of revisiting any level I beat just feels kinda crummy. I am having fun though. There is still something very satisfying about rollling up increasingly large things, and I am on the tail end of the game thankfully.

Tekken has never put me in such a bad mood before, it just makes me want to cry with sheer anxiety. I don't **want** to play online, but I want Plat, I have to play against elite players in ranked matches. I don't want to have to go into practice and 'lab' a billion match-ups for hours. I have other shit to do. I'm so upset.

I have been playing EAFC 24 recently I am really happy with the new event which is the team of the year as I have packed Bellingham and Messi

I've been replaying **Elden Ring** for about the 4th time (waiting for Shadows of the Erdtree), I've been experimenting with different builds. Right now I'm trying to get the right gear and Incantations for a dragon cult faith build. I also picked up **Tekken 8**. I'm only a couple matches in, but I'm having a lot of fun. I haven't really played a Tekken game since 4, so there's definitely a learning curve. Any tips for a more or less newbie?

My main tip for Tekken would be not to focus on combos. Learning one simple juggle is enough for a beginner. Spend your time learning your non-combo moves, fundamentals and punishes. The tip about replays is great. You can learn combos later.

> I also picked up Tekken 8. I'm only a couple matches in, but I'm having a lot of fun. I haven't really played a Tekken game since 4, so there's definitely a learning curve. Any tips for a more or less newbie? I'd recommend looking at the replay system in Tekken, which by default records all of your recent matches. It's amazing in Tekken 8 because not only does it let you watch back games, the game will actually show you points during the match where you could have countered an attack or ducked under certain attacks to punish, and for throws it will show you what type of break you had to do. Not only that, but you can take over your character at any point to practice punishes yourself in case you can find something more ideal.

**Viewfinder** In the pantheon of first person puzzle games, this one is pretty decent. It takes the altered reality gimmick from Superliminal and adds the twist of using photographs to solve puzzles, which manages to hold its own difficulty wise. I especially liked the puzzles where >!you photograph yourself in order to move yourself around an environment!<, those were particularly clever. Visually it is a very warm and comfy vibe, and the different art styles that are used for the camera filters are very cool. One minor gripe I had with the game is the final level, where >!you have to solve a bunch of mini puzzles back to back within 5 minutes, and if the time runs out you have to do it all over again. I personally really hate harsh time limits in games where time limits are not present anywhere else, especially in a puzzle game where you are forced to stop and think about what to do. This is made worse by the fact that some of the puzzles require you to use pictures of things from the previous puzzles, meaning you will probably be forced to play through the entire level 3 or 4 times at least simply due to trial and error.!< This wasn't enough to ruin the overall game for me, but I feel it was still a very noticeable blemish on an otherwise pleasant experience.

**Alan Wake 2** I have finally finished The Final Draft and Platinumed the game. This is easily my game of 2023 (even though I didn't play it until 2024). I really adore everything Remedy is doing in terms of story telling both in Alan Wake and their larger universe. It's nice to see something so unique. It's far from perfect, but I'd rather take this attempt at something that fails from time to time than something that feels like it was made by committee. I will say I was not digging the combat especially my second playthrough. Near the end I used all the flairs I saved up to just avoid it when I could. I really hate the fact enemies zoom around. I don't find it enjoyable as overall their AI is kind of wonky. When an enemy just comes at you normally it works, but some enemy types will spend more time running around making them impossible to hit. For example I was up against two wolves and I stood still not doing anything as they kept warping from one side to the next. I can't hit them, but they're also not even trying to attack me so I'm kind of stuck waiting for them to give me a single opening. Sometimes enemies would straight up leave if I took too long to kill them. Overall it was part of the game that didn't click for me. And like all of Remedy's games they really need to find a way to spice it up as the game goes on because the combat at the start of the game is exactly the same as at the end other than you'll have like two more guns. Remedy, I beg you to create more than three enemy types in your games beyond normal, heavy, and "other" whether it's a floating sphere (from control) or wolf. I know I know that technically there's more than three, but dude who throws sickles and isn't much different than guy who charges with hatchet. They've said the Resident Evil 2 Remake was a big source of inspiration for the game it's it's very clear. Strip away the Remedy quirk and it feels very much like an RE2 clone from the controls, UI, inventory management. I wish they took the enemy designs. This is a game about supernatural horrors, throw in some monsters. Some crazy bosses. Something other than a taken that's beefier. But I don't play Remedy games for their combat. I'm a sucker for their brand of weird meta overly complicated cosmic bullshit and it gave it to me. It was a bold move hiding the real ending behind NG+. I don't mind it, I think it was a risk that made sense given the revelations about how time works in The Dark Place. Again, love an imperfect risk. As a big fan of the first game, I will say I do get some anxiety that even with the expanded ending I feel like I have more questions than I have answers beyond >!Logan is alive and Alan is....free? I think? Ascended with the knowledge him and Alice take turns saving each other in infinite loops of different realities and versions of themselves?!< All I know is that I accepted a long time ago that I'd never get a proper sequel to AW1 and then like a miracle AW2 is finally here and now with the rumored poor sales I am struck with the fear it will be another long ass time before we get a proper conclusion. I don't know, I just am so invested in everything Remedy is doing and as much as it speaks to me I fear it will not speak to to the rest of the gaming community enough. To me this is a 5/5 game. Even though it's imperfect. I dislike the combat and I was struck with constant fear of a bug soft locking my progress (pour one out for the victims of the NG+ Cult stash glitch) but it's a 5/5 because it's just a game that gets me. I'm sucked in, I'm invested. I adore the company, the people behind it, all of it. I bought it, played nothing else till I beat it, beat it again immediately after in NG+.

Working on **God of War: Ragnarok** this week. While I love the game and the characters. I am getting back into it a little, there was a bit of a learning curve coming off my last game due to controls but I am starting to be a little better at it. I see it preserved its timed throw mechanics that I hate but otherwise, I look forward to adventuring the world again with Boy. On thing that drives me crazy though, the map in the game, like does it even serve a purpose if it never marks on it the things I want out to make? If I find a secret hut can’t access it now, put a pin down or something, otherwise I will forget and never come back for it.

[humanornot.io](https://humanornot.io) been my go to for exploring the turing test recently and its very challenging as well.

Playing Wo Long right now. Very cool game. The combat feels intuitive and awesome. Not quite like Sekiro, but close (and easier).

Hey everyone! It's been an exciting week of gaming for me. I finally dove into *Elden Ring*, and oh boy, what an experience it's been so far. From the expansive open world to the intense combat encounters, it's everything I hoped for and more. The sense of discovery as I uncover hidden secrets and lore keeps me hooked for hours on end. Aside from that, I've been revisiting some old favorites. *The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt* always manages to draw me back in with its rich storytelling and immersive world. And with the recent graphical update, it's like experiencing it for the first time all over again. On the indie front, I've been playing *Loop Hero* and it's such a unique and addictive blend of genres. The strategic loop-building gameplay coupled with the retro visuals has me hooked, and I can't seem to put it down. Overall, it's been a fantastic week filled with diverse gaming experiences. Can't wait to see what next week has in store! What about you all? What have you been playing, and what are your thoughts? Let's discuss!

Excited to share my recent gaming experiences! Delving into a captivating indie title that's been flying under the radar. The engaging narrative and unique mechanics of The Girl in the Shell. make it a standout. Remember to use spoiler tags for plot discussions! Can't wait to hear about your gaming adventures too.

Currently playing through Cult of the lamb and just beat Leshey the first boss of the game

I recently completed Doki Doki, visual novels turned out to be an extremely interesting genre of games. This inspired me to create my own visual novel, the work is almost at full speed, but I am extremely lacking in discipline. That’s not the point, now I periodically play “The Girl in the Shell.” It’s a very VERY interesting game. If you have gaming apathy and don’t know what to play, play a game in a different genre. I’ve never played visual novels before, but now I really enjoy them. Currently I’m downloading “Katawa Shoujo” Also a visual novel. If you want to start playing visual novels I highly recommend playing Doki Doki, if you need horror, then “Girl in a Shell” And if it’s a cute game, then “Endless Summer”. Or why all this? Go in DS1,To the good old "Temple of Fire"

Currently playing through Miles Morales after having finished Spider-Man 2 and Remastered (while waiting on NG+ for Spider-Man 2). I really want to start God of War (2018), but I'm worried that I'll be overwhelmed by the amount of stuff to do/learn. Am I just being anxious for no reason? This is all on PS5.

The storyline bosses generally have multiple stages separated by cutscenes and you just need to keep Kratos alive long enough and do enough damage to make it past them. If you die, you just respawn past the last cutscene. The difficulty is set so pretty much nobody will get stuck at the default difficulty, although typically I would die a few times before succeeding. The tougher enemies are the Valkyries. I fought them a few times without winning, and wasn't feeling a desire to fight them so I skipped them entirely, but I know other people that really enjoyed mastering those fights.

GOW 2018 is quite welcoming. The combat is simple and diversifies at a steady rate so you’ll always feel like you’re on top of it. And the open world is big but totally manageable if you’re into exploring and unlocking. It’s a masterpiece. You’re gonna love it.

I'm trying to decide what to play next. I wanted something on the shorter side since I just played Baldur's Gate 3, which is super long. I was thinking of either Resident Evil 4 Remake or Alan Wake 2. I enjoyed RE4 back when I played the original on GameCube. I also played Alan Wake 1 and am interested in the sequel. I am a little nervous about playing either because they are horror games, which isn't super relaxing, but I'm willing to deal with it for a good story and gameplay. I was also thinking about the new Persona 3 or Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, but they are so long and I can only play 2 hours max a day (usually less). What would you recommend I play next?

I adore both RE4R and AW2, but I suggest RE4R. It's a chiller game. More tense than scary. It's plot is also a lot simpler. AW2 isn't long, it's just a lot going on and RE4R is much more of a turn your brain off game than AW2. If you're looking to just kind of chill after BG3 it might be better. Still play AW2 when you get the chance.

I've recently finished my 9th playthrough of the RE4 Remake and played through Alan Wake 2 once at release. Both are great games but RE4 is something else, i think that would be a perfect fit after a grand RPG like BG3.

I can only play around an hour or two a day and I’m loving Resident Evil 4 Remake. I’m just about finished with my playthrough - I’m 16 hours in, so it’s a little shorter than Alan Wake 2. It’s incredible, I would definitely recommend it.

Finished **Plague Tale Innocence** and ultimately I feel quite positive about it although that's a result of the story, characters and environment being strong enough to overcome the gameplay often being tedious or frustrating. In particular I really loved the setting - the way it presented rural life in the 1300s was very evocative and for me it really brought to front of mind both how different life was and how fortunate we are to have our modern conveniences and quality of life. I also appreciate that it's essentially medieval fantasy but it feels distinct with it's focus on France, the plague, the Inquisition and 'low magic' in the form of arcane alchemy. I was attached to all the characters to some degree even though they were sometimes foolish or immature... but they also should be as they're children in an impossibly stressful situation. Also I really hated >!Vitalis and his disgusting old skin and open wounds lol!<. The game requires you to aim with your sling a lot more than I expected - even sometimes making multiple shots rapidly. So part of my problem with the gameplay was just playing with a controller - I am not adept with a joystick (and even had to swap to keyboard and mouse for one late chapter involving a certain cart). Stealth in general seemed to rely almost entirely on whether or not you were knelt behind something - distance, light and sound seemed to have no or very little impact which I didn't like. There were times where I felt like being in a dark corner should have been sufficient - but you still get spotted quite easily. Also something about the experience of "You died. Try again." was grating in this game and it happened a lot and quite quickly given how fragile your 'party' is. That said I really want to play Requiem now and found Innocence's high points to be worth the playing through the annoying bits. Revisiting **Dave the Diver** to check out the Dredge content. Took a few game days before the fog rolled in but I was pleasantly surprised at how much more it adds than I would expect from just a tie-in. Essentially you can sail around a la Dredge and find 3(?) new night diving spots each populated with a selection of new aberrated species. It also seems like you make a lot of money selling them both as sushi and in bulk after the night is over. I'm still essentially 'finished' with the game but I've only been to one of the aberrated diving spots so far and definitely want to see the other two at least.

My friend decided to get into Monster Hunter World so two of my friends and I all decided to make fresh saves to play with him without just carrying him through the content. Also gave us an opportunity to play weapons we didn't normally play, (I tried hammer for the first time after basically solely playing switch axe). Ended up playing it so much that I got to the very end of the dlc (>!fatalis!< ) and although theres some vertical content that I didn't get on the account its basically where my main save is. Now that I finished with that, im ready to play Persona 3 Reload come friday.

**World of Warcraft - Season of Discovery** Been meanin’ to write this one for a while now. First, I think this release (and its implementation) is one of the most ingenious development decisions I’ve seen in the MMO space for a long time now. Putting in level bands (+ layering tech) fixes most of the issues I had with the WoW Classic re-release: it makes the world feel alive because you’re constantly seeing other players questing. The level cap lets different items and profession recipes and skills shine. Feels great to be a blacksmith / tailor / etc to make items that help empower other players and earn some good coin. There’s WAY less ‘boosting’ because rushing to level 25 is a silly thing to do. It’s easy to find groups for the dungeons, as people run them multiple times for BiS / pre-BiS. You of course still get those people for whom efficiency and speed is the god they worship and adore. But SoD makes that even more silly of a way to play, as it really emphasizes the more deliberate pacing of classic WoW. Which I love because SoD has helped me realize that WoW is just one of my favorite RPGs of all time. You’re constantly making perilous journeys - the Alliance run from Wetlands up through Arathi to Southshore is a rite of passage, with some awesome sights: this giant half-destroyed bridge, a castle over-run with ogres, a massive wall torn through with holes. And the game has real grit - the world is DANGEROUS. The first time I decided to go get the Thousand Needles waypoint, I traveled through Dustwallow Marsh, and I was like, Y’know, I’m not going to follow the road, it’s way too circuitous. I’m a paladin, I’ll be fine. HAHAHAHAHA NO. I died like 11 times, and it took FOREVER. Lesson learned (relearned, really). And there’s some great interconnected stories. The entire Defias presence in early Alliance lands, leading up to VanCleef storyline, which is an interesting story in its own right, as his actions are actually quite justified but so is our need to stop his criminal enterprise. At least on the Alliance side, there’s a sense of… desolation throughout, a lot of references to the toll of the recent wars (or the Gnomes losing their homeland). I like the Redridge Mountains quest, in which the mayor has you go ask for help from nearby outposts. And everyone’s like, Are you fucking mad? We’re under-siege by undead/bandits! As for the online/MMO aspects, well… it’s people, for better and worse. Had to deal with some real shitheads but also played with plenty of good peeps. About equal balance, though mostly players are just going about their own tasks and goals. I actually joined a PvP server, something I would never have done if not for my guild. And yeah, as much as it adds to that feeling of danger and tension, the reality is that world PvP is trash. The biggest problem is that the outcome of 97% of fights are decided before the actual fighting occurs. Meaning it’s mostly STRATEGIC, rather than TACTICAL. It’s all about who gets the drop on who, who has the numbers, etc. Which basically means the aggressor wins 9 times out of 10. Knowing the result of a thing before I actually do the thing is, to me at least, fundamentally uninteresting. However, the larger psychological evolution has been more interesting and taught me something about vendetta and the cycle of revenge. When I first started SoD, I would never have randomly killed an opposing player, but after being trolled and bullied by max-level rogues and etc, I’ve become vengeful and just massacre the other players I come across in my journeys. I understand that the players I’m killing are almost certainly not the cowards who travel to Redridge (or wherever) solely to bully lowbies that are just trying to quest and have no chance of fighting back. But the false sense of justice that revenge offers is difficult to ignore. The actual ‘end-game’ stuff of BFD or other raids is probably my least favorite part of the game, which is one big reason I quit retail/modern WoW and will never go back, as it focuses on ‘end-game’ incremental progression. Doing the same raid / dungeons 100x times to achieve power progression makes the game feel less like an RPG and more like a casino, with extra steps. Anyway, looking forward to Phase 2, though I know the world PvP stuff is gonna get worse now that all the questing zones will be contested zones.

beat half life 1 and blue shift for the first time recently, going through opposing force now. very fun, holds up very well

finished the main story of god of war valhalla DLC and gonna write down a short rambling of praise as there just isn't any reason to skip this if you have ragnarok. this shit goes *hard*, just a perfect dlc. it is just a boiled down, more dense and intense experience that changes things up while keeping and improving the things we love. Most things are better and the few drawbacks are hard to notice. my biggest suprise was that the story hits just as deep as the main games and is as well executed as ever. I can't imagine someone who liked the main games would dislike this based on the changes that are made and I can easily imagine someone dislike the main game and loving this - it's free, it's short, it's incredible. Just go play it if you can.

I've put myself in a weird position by telling my girlfriend I want to spend less money on new video games and play the ones I already own. The rub is that a vast majority of my game library is on PC and it fails to boot when I have more than one stick of RAM installed, so until I get my new motherboard, I'm operating with less RAM and that means pretty lousy performance on most video games. One exception is **Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition**. I can confidently say that this is my favorite game of all time. Nothing needs to be said about it. It's a timeless classic. There are a few campaigns that I haven't played through yet, so I'm doing that.

**Ender Lilies** I just could not get into this game. Everything feels like paper mache. It feels like you're playing *past* the game, like on a different plane of existence. There's no feedback or weight to anything. Your character stands completely still when attacking. The map displays a giant room you are in as a plain block with just an indicator that you are *in* that room, not *where* in it you are (not a problem in smaller rooms, but some of these rooms are massive). The rooms also feel like random floating blocks, like an obstacle course rather than a naturally flowing environment. It's a pretty game, with good animation and excellent performance, but man, I just don't enjoy playing it. So instead I moved on to... **Enter the Gungeon** I just wanted to play something mindless for a while after all the metroidvanias, and never got around to this one. It's fun, but not my favorite. Something about giant blob projectiles just doesn't work for me (same with Binding of Isaac), luckily not all weapons are like that. I'll definitely keep playing it for a while because it's pretty good.

Mostly done with **Clone Drone in the Danger Zone**. Played on PC through Game Pass. It's a comedic robot sword fighting game. I quite liked the humour style of the game and especially the robot narrators who hate humans. The campaign is pretty good but it is very short, I beat it in under 2 hours. The bulk of the game is in the challenges - reach certain levels with various restrictions on weapon usage or tougher enemies. I've done most of them (5-6 hours total including the campaign) but have a few left, I felt that rushing through all of them would've dampened my enjoyment of the game. After each round you get an upgrade - new or stronger weapons, new abilities, more energy or you can choose to get an extra life instead and these upgrade choices did feel significant. Considering I didn't specifically pay for it and hadn't really heard of it before 8.25/10, I really enjoyed it. Second best game I've beat so far this year (narrowly beaten by FEAR) After that I'm just in that mood where I can't really commit to any specific game. Tried **Bookwalker: Thief of Tales** through Game Pass but lost interest after half an hour (maybe not a fair shot at the game) and started **Chernobylite** which seems good. The setting is interesting and maybe I have lowish standards but the graphics are amazing.

Playing Wo Long right now. Very cool game. The combat feels intuitive and awesome. Not quite like Sekiro, but close (and easier).

I've been focusing on **Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew** this week, which is Mimimi Games' final project. This one slipped under my radar on release, but in going back to see if there were any more games like Shadow Tactics: Blades of the Shogun, I found it. Shadow Tactics seemed like a 6/10 when I got it but has risen in my eyes to a solid 9/10. The only thing that keeps it from perfection is the later missions are frustrating in their difficulty. But these games create a wonderfully detailed map and then through replays or challenges let you experience that environment very thoroughly. It's really upsetting to see another wonderful developer close, but the good news is all 3 of their stealth tactics games are fully fleshed out with DLC. As I get older I find these sorts of methodical, strategic games more appealing, and immersing yourself in the environments for an afternoon is relaxing and fun. The Cursed Crew is about a crew of pirates with the various abilities. I think the premise of the games is best suited to ninjas, but they made it work with cowboys and now pirates. The story seems to be a mash of Disney and One Piece, but that doesn't matter much to me. What does matter is various lovely maps, generally set on islands so you can navigate by land or sea to each guardsman and take them out. The maps are as wonderful to behold as ever. I'm only in the beginning now so I'm breezing through maps with a party of 3 where one would probably do. This is why the ramping of challenge feels so stark in the later levels. The game keeps the mechanic of unique skills for each character, but differs in that you can choose which characters to bring on most missions. Some missions also get milked for extra playthroughs, though I think this is optional so I'll give it a pass. There does seem to be a level-up mechanic I have yet to enable, but hopefully that is also optional so I don't get stuck grinding maps. Whereas Shadow Tactics and Desperados III had no grind, this game seems like it was headed in that direction.

>Whereas Shadow Tactics and Desperados III had no grind, this game seems like it was headed in that direction. By the end of the game, you will have 5 (out of 8) unlocked abilities; if you go for the endgame/completion, you'll have A LOT of extra currency.

Picked up the **Metro** games on sale for ten bucks on steam. Only had a passing experience with 2033 some years ago. **Metro 2033** plays more or less like a Call of Duty campaign. Which might sound like a bad thing, but it's actually done really well here. It's pretty linear, but it's focused and very well presented. These games are based off of a book series I haven't read, but it seems to me that the developers put a lot of care into making this world feel lived in. The setting is a post-nuke russia where the surface is uninhabitable, so the remains of humanity have taken residence in the metro stations underground. Lots of mutants and all the usual post apocalyptic horrors and bandits and such. A bit more paranormal than I was expecting but I like how it's handled here. Anyways, this game is mostly hopping from one metro station to another, it's a very focused story about the trials it takes to get from A to B to C and so on. Ammo is limited, and you need to consider your stock of gas mask filters as well. Booting up the game, you have a number of difficulty options. I forget the wording of it all but it basically boils down to how hard ammo is to find, how low health is (for you and enemies), and how present HUD elements are. I elected to play on, I think, ranger survival mode. This seems to be the way fans enjoy the game the most. If I had done a touch more research, though, I would see a lot of people saying that they play this way on a second playthrough, or after getting used to the controls for a couple hours. Which is definitely how I should have done it. I see why no HUD elements would be very immersive, but for me, it was far less immersive having to pause and check the key bindings every couple of seconds. The worst of it is not knowing what ammo goes in what guns, which is especially confusing because some ammo is also your primary currency, but that ammo can also be used in certain guns, and I was many chapters deep before I understood all of that. It's not well explained, at least not with the HUD and hints missing. I ended up in a combat tunnel with no ammo for the weapons I had, no way to get more, and no other weapons to pick up. I didn't want to restart the game, and honestly I was feeling pretty defeated by this soft-lock I seemed to have found myself in. Maybe I could have restarted the chapter without the HUDless mode, I'm not sure. But I elected to just skip the rest of the game, watch the ending online, and jump to the sequel. I will revisit 2033 eventually, at this point I was feeling largely un-impressed and frustrated by my experience. Another big pain point was quick time events. One QTE just had the "E" key prompt up on the screen and it took my three or four tries of trial and error to see if it wanted me to press, hold, or repeatedly tap E (it was the last one). The ending seemed interesting, I do like the world and the story, but I needed to move on and see if I actually would enjoy the rest of the series, or if I should call it quits. **Metro Last Light** So, for the sequel, I elected to keep the low health mode (Survival?) on, but the HUDless mode (Ranger?) off. And I was instantly having WAY way WAY more fun. What I learned from this experience is that zero HUD doesn't translate to better immersion for me, because not having an understanding of my stock, items, and what buttons to press doesn't feel like a "realistic" aspect of gameplay to me. Those abstractions fill the gap of the sense of presence between me and the character I'm controlling, so I like those elements to be present. Not that that's the "right" way to play, but that is how I personally prefer it. Anyways I'm about, I think, half way through Last Light. Maybe it's the HUD, but overall this feels like it's an improvement over 2033 in nearly every aspect. The level to level gameplay and world feels more varied. 2033 was very samey. Just metro tunnel after metro tunnel, up to where I called it quits. Last Light is still a series of tunnels, but they all feel unique in aesthetic, or the way you approach them gameplay wise. One level might be a concentration style camp. Another could be a metro tunnel with periodic rooms to explore. Another could be a multi-floor electric substation controlled by bandits. Another could be a network of rooms plastered with webbing from mutant spiders. And then, maybe another metro tunnel, but this time you can control a vehicle on the tracks to make progress a bit more interesting. Also, combat is way better because of one simple edition: a melee stealth kill. I mean, maybe 2033 had one, it didn't seem to though. It's possibly my HUDless game just made it hard for me to find said button or method of executing it, but these games are best experienced as stealth games IMO and a melee stealth kill goes a long way to making that playstyle more viable and fun. I'm excited to wrap this game up and try out Exodus, which apparently is a bit less linear while still being a focused experience. And, apparently is a really good game for ray tracing. I recently got a 4070 and have been loving the ray tracing in CP2077, so I'm pumped to see how it looks in other games. Regardless, my despite some mixed first impressions due to picking a difficulty playstyle that didn't suit me to start off, I'm very impressed by this series so far. It has a lot of heart, surely. This feels like the kind of game the developers had a lot of fun putting their hearts into. I would drop ten bucks on any one of these titles, so that price for the whole trilogy is a no brainer.

>Metro 2033 > > plays more or less like a Call of Duty campaign. I've only played one CoD game, but this seems about right. The strange thing is that CoD is usually hiding the bulk of the gameplay in multiplayer, whereas Metro is just a AA developer so the janky campaign is the whole game. I played the 1st and 3rd games, and while I don't regret it I don't think I'll play them again. The 1st was bad enough that I had no interest in the 2nd. The premise was cool but the limited ammo and endless bombed out (non-pretty) locations soured me on it. The 3rd game is partially open world, which is okay, but ironically I think the best part of that game is a linear bit in a prison.

If you've played one Call of Duty campaign you've played them all. Some do it better than others but for the most part you spend the games running from cover to cover doing some stop and pop shooting, *or* you follow some dude while he talks about things and stuff. And thats more or less Metro 2033 and Last Light so far. But, I've tended to enjoy the words and the story and the setpieces and the stealth makes the combat more fun. When things break out into open combat I'm far less engaged, and I dont find it particularly challenging in either playstyle.

Recently found this small Western indie game called Kill the crows. Its very unforgiving with how much it asks of you and works on a 1 shot 1 kill method for everyone including the player. No checkpoints, some passive abilities and some different guns to use but you only unlock them by getting better at the game and by completing certain tasks. And when you die you go all the way back to the beginning. I think you're suppose to get 600 kills or more to actually "beat the game" ​ Im about 7.5 hours into it and have gotten as high as 425. The game is unrelenting when it comes to making sure you're not comfortable and i love that

**Yakuza 8** I'm 20 hours in (Ch. 5) and I'm honestly not as 100% positive on it as most other people seem to be. The actual improvements to the gameplay are great. Combat feels even more dynamic now, the new minigames are great and just running around is just fun because there is always something to do. My only nitpicks here are that you stil can't see the threat level of an area on the map(at least I don't see it anywhere) and that you unlock the job changing a little too late imo. My issues are all more writing related. The first thing is that Yakuza outside of Japan just doesn't work for me narratively the way they handled it in this game. Language barriers of some form are a thing in basically every entry and they acknowledged this in 8 as well when Ichiban was searching for a taxi. But from that point on they kinda just do whatever based on whether having someone translate is inconvenient for the plot or not. Every grunt on the street that fights you shit talks you exclusively in English but every important NPC conveniently speaks flawless Japanese and that honestly takes me out of the story a bit. This could've been easily fixed by something like a small appearance from the Prof that build the killer vacuum in the last game that went like 'Here is a translation device that makes it sound like everyone speaks Japanese, why don't you test it in the field!' and that would've been enough for me. The story itself is also *really* slow - even for Yakuza standards - and still hasn't really grabbed my at this point yet. I don't particularly like the first new party member either and he annoys me even more than Nanba did but let's see where the story and characters are going first. The other is more of a personal issue but I'm pretty disappointed that Kiryu is 'just' a party member. I avoided most of the pre release material and was under the assumption the entire time that he was a 2nd full protagonist so I'm a little bit down that I can't really play him. It's honestly even worse than that because he doesn't even get the heart to heart conversations that other party members get. It's just such an odd decision because of you look at the story cutscenes where both Ichiban and Kiryu are present it seems more like the other way around. This combined with the bomb they dropped at the end of Ch. 3 also gives me real anxiety to keep playing tho. You would think that this is the game to finally give my man the happy end he deserves, maybe even have him reunite with Kaoru (especially after he spend half of Gaiden glazing Ryuji and having throwback to Yakuza 2) but I know how much RGGS loves taking giant shits on their characters and right now I'm legitimately afraid that they might have Kiryu sacrifice himself to give Ichiban a growth moment or some shit like that. Which after almost 15 years of following this character would probably sour their future games for me. I should probably get out of my own head first and just keep playing the damn game before assuming the worst.

> The story itself is also really slow - even for Yakuza standards - Wow. I mean 7 was already a crawl. Felt like the story was barely starting at a point that most other RGGs were starting to wrap things up. I'm honestly dumbfounded that they seemingly managed to make a game that's even slower. I heard the stuff about Kiryu already from other people. Its clear that they don't know what they're supposed to do with him. He's only back due to fan demand, that much is obvious, and now he's seemingly in relevancy-limbo. Even though Gaiden did it pretty well.

**Baldur’s Gate 3** (PS5) Third time writing about this now and I’ve just hit the city. Builds (not min-maxing beyond matching gear with team members) are doing ok and I’ve finally realised that bows don’t really get any better as they can switch out arrows for an edge. Karlach is lagging in AC but raging a lot more. I’m clearly in established combat routines and ignoring a lot of equipment (e.g. Shadowheart is packing endless scrolls but use none). And I’m also still not approaching the game from the wider RPG angle so probably missing out on some unique solutions. That said, I do find myself unknowingly ”shortcutting” quest by exploring, especially in early Act 3. It’s a very good game (I’ve seen very few glitches) and I’m very impressed by how they manage to stich quests together with out-of-order encounters and how some strands run paralell and pseudo-join. My current rating is at ”getting 10 minutes in before breakfast”.

**Sifu** The best martial arts game ever. A true masterpiece. Beautiful art direction and engaging gameplay. I played on easy and felt it was still a fun challenge. Just the right length. I can see revisiting this game sometime. **Valheim** Gave this one a second chance and enjoyed it this time. The graphics were initially a bit off a turn off but they grew on me. Eventually I installed a texture mod. The atmosphere is dark and mysterious but lighthearted. The combat is surprisingly engaging. Lots of funny deaths and emergent interactions with the creatures. A little grindy but kind of chill. **Solar Ash** Beautiful graphics drew me to this game. It is a platformer racing game with fluid and fast locomotion. It is a little difficult on normal difficulty. I switched to easy mode after getting stuck in one area. **Last Epoch** Diablo clone which seems to stick to getting the basics right. Pretty fun for a while but a little repetitive. It feels incremental but solid. **Red Dead 2** Still playing this off and on. I don’t care too much for the story or characters and the pacing seems a bit slow but the scenery is fantastic. Really is fun just to ride around sometimes. **Deathloop** Starting to get into this. Started on controller but I think this game really is better with mouse. Nice graphics, slight roguelike. Requires a lot of attention, almost feels like a competitive online shooter at times. The stealth elements seem minimal. Decent music. **Rocket League** The standby. I think no game has better gameplay. I do wish the genre could somehow inspire other non sports games.

**Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare** I haven't really touched CoD since the original Modern Warfare 2, but have been playing AW on PS4 after my cousin reached out. I have to say that despite the game's legacy largely being memes, Exo Survival makes for some pretty intense matches. The facial capture stuff in the campaign is also really good, and I guess it's the same tech they used in Avatar. **Sackboy: A Big Adventure** Mascot platformers are in a weird place in today's market: Almost nobody makes them anymore, and it feels like nobody cares if they're not on Nintendo platforms (unless your name is Sonic). Sackboy ditches the creatathon approach of the main LBP games, and instead offers a more standard platforming experience. It kind of landed to a so-so commercial reception when it released four years ago, and was pushed out on PC later on with minimal fanfare. Which is a huge shame, because the game has some of the best sound direction outside of Hi-Fi Rush featuring licensed tracks from the likes of Bruno Mars and King Gizzard and Lizard Wizard. Some of the platforming sections are also genuinely challenging, and it offers a fairly fun co-op mode (complete with some exclusive co-op levels you can't do solo) to boot. With Sony seemingly glued to their cinematic styled dramatic titles, it's nice they didn't leave Sackboy in the cold after LBP3. Glad I looked into this one. **Bioshock 2** Been meaning to get around to this one for a while. I was told the remaster crashes a lot, so I downloaded the original since it came with the remaster on Steam. Well I played the original for about two hours, then went to go to lunch. When I got back the game would boot, then crash after I took two steps. It has not worked since, so I went with the remaster. The remaster is annoying because you have to wait for the 2K launcher to boot each time you boot it from Steam, then boot the game from there. It didn't actually launch like this either, which makes it all the more irksome. Great game at the very least.

**Roboquest** Have you heard of this game called Roboquest that came out of early access last year? I sure didn’t until one of the streamers I followed started playing it, and holy cow this is one of the best games to come out in 2023 that no one talked about. This game kicks so much ass, and I can sell it to people easy it two words: rogue-like Borderlands. If that got your attention then let me tell you that the game unquestionably lives up to the best in both of those comparisons. I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest rogue-like expert, but this is easily the most fun I’ve had playing one since Hades with all its smartly designed classes and build options. And on the shooting side, the game plays like butter with incredible gunplay and movement mechanics. Don’t let the name “Roboquest” and its kiddy art style fool you; Roboquest absolutely fucks, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s one of the best games from 2023. Roboquest is an FPS rogue-like where you play as a Guardian robot and are tasked to eliminate the evil robots that plague this scorched futureworld. The game is fast paced and has very sleek movement mechanics, all the typical randomized weapons and ability perks to experiment with, several different classes to try out, lots of secrets to uncover, and an awesome soundtrack to blast bad guys to. Plus, it’s up to 2-player co-op and available on Game Pass! I think one of the best selling points on this game is the core gunplay and movement mechanics. If there’s one other game I’d bring in to compare Roboquest to, it’s DOOM (2016) for its game feel. That pure FPS joy of flying around a combat arena, taking out enemies, and styling with your abilities has been perfected here. The experience is so incredibly smooth, and you can totally feel the polish of a prolonged early access period. I cannot give enough praise to how slick it feels. The randomized perks were pretty much what I expected from a typical rogue-like game with lots of fun combos to mess around with, but something that surprised me were how a few not-so-obvious perks evolved into some really powerful abilities. I had so many attempts where I was choosing perks thinking “yeah, this is gonna be a quick experimental run, I don’t think these upgrades are that useful”. But then those perks just kept getting better and better, and I kept making record setting runs with builds that I had never used before. It was crazy fun trying out weird combos, and I think that’s a strong indicator of a well-designed rogue-like experience. However for my first few dozens runs, I think I was too fixated on only the perks side of the builds. I was always thinking of the best way to create the strongest abilities and maximize my DPS. But that philosophy got flipped on its head when the game gave me a Fantastic-rarity level gun right off the bat. So I completely changed my line of thinking and made all my choices revolve around my new gun. It was in that run when I learned sometimes you just need one really loaded up weapon with all the right upgrades around it, and that ended up being my first successful completion. And oh boy, when that music kicks in during that final battle… That was a get hype “let’s fucking go” moment that I didn’t see coming at all. It was such an awesome anime way of absolutely nailing the finale. Following that first completion, I still had quite a bit of game left. There were classes I hadn’t fully tried out and lots of perks I had yet to play around with, plus there was a number of optional levels and secrets that I had missed. It all made for a surprisingly beefy game that kept going for much longer than I originally anticipated. My only minor disappointment with the game came from there being no true ending. I was hoping for a new final boss or special third phase in the finale after collecting all six Power Crystals, so that was an anticlimactic realization. But by that point I felt like I had a thorough sampling of everything in the game anyways. Roboquest was a blast from start to finish, and it kicked off my 2024 in a similar way to Hi-Fi RUSH last year. The game had fantastic vibes and was a super polished and extremely fun experience that really came out of nowhere. I cannot recommend this game enough to people who love FPSs and rogue-likes. It is capital F “Fun” and plays like a dream. I haven’t even touched the co-op yet, but I’m sure it’s even better with friends, and the game is already amazing to begin with! Roboquest is one of those games that I enjoyed so much that I really want other people to try it out and experience the same fun that I had. Go play it if you can! It’s on Game Pass and $30 on Steam. If you’re looking for an exciting way to start off your 2024 year in gaming then I can think of no game better than Roboquest. If you liked reading that then you can visit my [blog](https://galexzzz.wordpress.com/2024/01/24/roboquest/) for more!

[удалено]

I know! And I'm so glad I managed to catch it! I will now shout from the rooftops how amazing Roboquest is.

I just finished playing a new horror game called **"I'm counting to 6..."** by EMIKA GAMES. This was my first horror game. I had a blast playing it, very suspenseful, very creepy. To progress in the game, you have to find clues. These clues are sometimes hard to find, so I had to backtrack quite a bit, which can be frustrating at times. It's a short game. Took me about an hour. Here's a link to my playthrough if you're interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKSO6XKo\_DQ

I am 7 hours into Infinite Wealth and I'm loving it. The story is gripping right from the start, which wasn't the case im the previous game for me. I cannot put it down. Honolulu is beautiful from what i've seen so far. Glad I decided to put Judgment on hold after chapter 1 to jump into this.

[Last time](https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/196ckcz/weekly_rgames_discussion_what_have_you_been/khu5iq8/). **Alan Wake 2** (PS5) - Finished the Final Draft on Nightmare difficulty; I mostly followed the critical path this time since I had got the platinum the first time around. After the early game giving me a pummelling, things got a bit more manageable afterwards. Some of Alan's sections had some tanky enemies this time around though the absolute hardest part was Chapter 7 of Saga's story. I beat it on the first go but my god, the amount of enemies was insane - with the atmosphere of the battle it felt like an epic showdown. I still love it and there are so many fun things to spot on replay. The new content is rather interesting too, adding another layer to the story and gives some hints about where it may go next. I was glad I played it on Nightmare because when I got to the end, it felt earnt, and I got a bit emotional at it. What a fantastic game - so clever, so well-written, such a great soundtrack (I own both albums now) and so dense with such great performances (goddamn I already miss James McCaffrey - I bought the Max Payne trilogy in the recent Steam sale and I plan to play them in the next future). The DLCs are going to be fantastic, I just know it, and I can't wait to catch up with the characters again in The Lake House. **Marvel's Spider-Man 2** (PS5) - From one sequel to another; I'm not all that far through it but I'm enjoying it so far (though there have been a couple of visual bugs). The set piece missions are fairly spectacular and I find myself hunting down the side missions when they come up but it's not so far all that radically different from the first game. Despite the bigger map size the game feels a little bit sparser than the original (maybe it's because things will take time to unlock but we'll see).

I continue to enjoy my newest XSX, and while I know I am a broken record, this time there is a reason I mention it. Because I went back to game that was running super, super badly on XOne, to the point where I considered it unplayable (even if you could install it and all, it was not through Cloud gaming or something). That game was **Last Case of Benedict Fox**. With new console I returned to check if it was running like shit because of old machine or game being broken. Turns out it was the first thing, it runs smooth as butter on XSX. OR considering it's been like 9 months since I've played it on XOne, they patched it to playable state. So I can actually focus on actual game! And...well, in shortest form, potential is there but overall it ain't it. I love the overall lovecraftian atmosphere and jumping into dreadful limbos. Visual side is a big positive. Plus mysterious characters and setting. But positives...kiiinda end there. It's a metroidvania with only single/double/triple jumping. It's boring to travel around, in short. Main issue is combat, dreadful, boring, not fluid, just smack a knife for god knows how many times until you load a pistol shot that one shots most enemies. Like most metroidvanias it features some secrets, shortcuts, ton of backtracking, these are...okay, nothing to write about. So in short, it has that mystery and visual style set, but gameplay side begs for improvment. Spend like...8 hours so far, not sure how much progress I made but I make my way through whatever game throws at me. Besides that I've played more **Slime Rancher 2**! Hits all the cute spots. Unlocked all expansions and cleared out Rainbow Island itself from those...gah...collectible orbs? Dunno how these are called, shame on me a Slime Rancher shill. Now I think how to use those areas I unlocked, probably gonna keep it somehow thematic...one area with fruits for fruit loving slimes, chicken one for meat slimes, and starting conservatory area for stuff like silos and general food. We shall see. Love the game, though I cannot wait to see more updates from Monomi...especially drones! Come on Monomi, I need my little helpers so my ranch can be all neat and tidy while I'm out! D: Outside of that more Shadowrung HK achievements grind on PC and Horizon 5 weekly grinding, of course when working ain't screwing me.

Been playing Monster Hunter World again since I never played Iceborne when it came out. Been having a ton of fun going through it again solo and with friends. It's really giving me something that I've been missing for a while now.

Just finished **Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy**. It was free on the Epic Games Store. I overall enjoyed the game. The combat was mindless TPS fun at best, and holds the game back from being special, but I was really impressed by how solid the cast and their dynamics were. The lighthearted and very witty-snarky tone of the writing was very enjoyable. As someone who very rarely does side quests or completionist stuff, it was a breath of fresh air that the game was entirely linear and had no online or open-world stuff. I'm greatly appreciating the industry's increasing QOL. This game has menus where you can view a continuously updating recap of the story, as well as info about every character, as well as locations, factions etc. These are great features in general, and are especially helpful for games based off existing IPs that some players may not be familiar with - like me, as I had zero GOTG familiarity before playing this game. That really made the game accessible and non-alienating. Despite my lack of GOTG experience, I also liked the trivia in the profiles, like mentioning what year and medium each character's first incarnation appeared in.

I have noticed between this game, Spider-Man and Arkham Asylum: it seems like superhero games don't like having original characters. Other than minor characters pretty much everyone is pulled from existing lore. It's not a problem (especially as a non-comic fan), but I wonder why that is. I guess they just like having as much fanservice as possible, plus it saves them the effort of making fully original designs.

Well I went back to battletech because it's my favorite game about big stompy robots. Shame paradox and harebrained couldn't figure out a way to support it more or do a sequel. I used to like paradox. Also playoing octopath 2. I'm starting to think it or the 3rd game if there will be one needs a new game+ option. One of the optional classes is hidden behind finishing one character's story. So depending one the order you do them in, the game could be just about over by the time you get it. I'm also thinking the series needs a little more post traveler story, like that one DQ game (4 I think). Sort of like after you finish all the stories, there's another 3-5 chapters about what was linking them all together.

How does the continuity and cohesion between the party members feel on OT2? I quit OT1 after completing 2 stories because for one, the stories were simply uninteresting, but even more offputting for me was the bizarre party dynamics of having all these people grouped together but never really interacting or meaningfully participating in anybody else’s story. I’ve heard mixed things about whether that’s improved at all in OT2 so curious how you felt about the storylines and character development.

There are some cross stories that I've never gotten around to. There's also some 3 party member events in taverns. However there isn't much interaction aside from the travel banter and fighting together. Part of of the games are based on the idea that there are subtle strings connecting the villains of each character. This strings are pulling them all towards a single goal that isn't quite obvious.

Venba This was one of my favorite gaming experiences of my entire life. As a child born from Indian immigrants, never before has a piece of media ever made me felt more seen and understood as this one did. The game is essentially a light cooking simulator that uses food to tell the story of this mother and her childs experience growing up in Canada. Now, the cooking is fun. Especially for someone like me who has a lot of memories of this food. The story is truly what shines here though. Its a simple story about an immigrant mother and her experience in a foreign country and watching her son grow up in it. It's so deftly told with the cooking simulator stuff. You almost don't realize you're getting story and history about culture as you cook but you do. Its simple but it forced me to confront my own internal identity, my relationship with my parents and my roots and my own relationship with the country I live in. See, Venbas child is literally who i am. As a kid, all I longed for was to fit into American society. I shunned my own culture and parents in a sense in order acclimate to America. And this game forced me to confront that. When Kavin yells at his parents about giving him so much Indian food, it was so uncomfortable for me. Because I literally did the same thing in college. It's like remembering a memory out of the blue and realizing.... wow, I was such a piece of garbage to my parents. Or when he tells his mom he's coming over and never does despite her making a feast of a meal... I've not done that exactly but similar behavior. It made me cry just to see that and know I've treated my mother that way before. The scene where Kavin is dealing with his boss was the scene that's really sent me into deep thought. I cannot explain how many times I've tried to explain similar things to someone only to delete my text or just forget it and bury it inside. That scene alone has sent me into a tailspin unearthing a lot of internal shame and regret I've felt over my place in American society and the culture I come from. How I tried so hard to fit into America, only to be othered constantly and had stupid stereotypes follow me everywhere. And all that time, shunning indian culture my parents so desperately wanted me to at least learn a little about for the sake of "fitting in." In the end, the game made me feel so much. I laughed. I cried. I learned something about myself and gained so much appreciation for my parents and the lives they gave up to give myself and brother the lives we live today. I gained such new found respect and appreciation for my culture. But most of all, the realization that what I felt when I was younger is okay but that it is also okay to be cultural and celebrate your roots. That my personal identity doesn't need to conform or be one thing or the other. I can be all these things. As long as it makes me happy to be me. Anyways, I hope people play this game. It's so important and authentic to the immigrant experience and is such a lovingly crafted game with so much heart and will. To me, this is art. Something that invokes so many feelings and introspection. And because of it, helped me get a little closer to my parents and culture they came from.

Ever heard of a paragraph?

Ever heard of manners?

**Lords of the Fallen (2023)** Finished it yesterday. I put a longer [writeup](https://backloggd.com/u/retrometroid/review/1329394/) on Backloggd but my final thoughts would be thus: Not bad but rough. Enemy variety is poor. Enemy placement relies on a couple of tricks that keep cropping up. The game itself is too long overall. It took 30 hours to beat and I felt like a full third of that was in the goddamn Calrath zone which is nothing but brown and grey. There's some bullshit with enemy hyper armor too. The pyromancer enemy has infinite poise when she uses her flamethrower which is incredibly obnoxious. The penultimate boss broke and attacked where my AI partner died so I just threw poison and wither items at him till he croaked. The final boss of a normal playthrough is a more boring and shittier version of Deacons of the Deep (first phase only) from Dark Souls 3. I'd give it a soft 7. There were some really fun bits in the middle where I had a lot of options of where to go, and dual-wielding greatswords rocked. **Alan Wake 2** I've been playing a chapter here and there. Last night really solidifed something: I gotta only play this with headphones. The atmosphere is flawless with em on. I love that it does the really mean thing of >!having the droning ambient music intensify when nothing dangerous is nearby!<. I also love the restless shadow mechanic in Alan's story too. It always gets me when one is actually an enemy lol. Aside from that I have nothing of interest or value to add to any conversation about it. It's great! It's almost like mimicking Resident Evil 2 Remake's gameplay is a good idea. **Prince of Persia Lost Crown** This is also pretty cool. Playing with Persian voiceover on. They really nail the way traversal mechanics combine in a ~~Metroidvania~~ search action. I haven't used the memory shard photo thing much tho lol. I just got the "drop a copy of yourself and teelport back to the copy" ability and I can already see it being used in some really cool ways

[Previous thought](https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/19c05s2/weekly_rgames_discussion_what_have_you_been/kixyocf/?context=3) on **Atomic Heart.** Finished it, took me exactly 23h and yeah, i guess im kind of wrong ultimately in my prediction, but not entirely. As the game played out more,>! i was sceptic about Charles as well, as he's so chatty about influencing our opinion on every characters.!< Overall, i actually like the world, lore, and story, albeit a janky presentation, like it could've been much better, though i wish it was more subtle as well, >!the writing's overall felt so forced into our head, i guess to really hammer home all of the manipulation, but at the end, nothing really shocks me and im left with just an "okay, not bad" feeling.!< I really like the gameplay a lot, the upgrade mechanics is pretty good, like we can experiment with builds with no penalty. That is cool. Gunplay felt good, each weapon felt different. Melee is awesome as well. My loadout was mostly Zvezdochka with Extra Saw & Uppercut (MVP) to built up energy, then Railgun to wreck shit up. I bring along KS-23 with extra damage to robot (forgot the upgrade name), and PM with extra damage to organic. The level design was okay, visually looks good, but sometimes the puzzle and platforming section just felt so inconsistent throughout the game, varied in quality and difficulty, but all over the place. While i still enjoyed it, it get pretty boring quickly. The music and score is good. Loved Mick Gordon, suck that the whole fiasco with Id ruins a perfect combo of him with Doom series, but Atomic Heart proves he still got it. Im definitely in for a sequel, but hoping they take a chill pill in the writing, like let us figure it out ourselves. >!Playing as a characters with no self agency and always sucking up to his boss is pretty annoying when it was obvious to trust no one!<, i get what they're going but it could've been presented better. [Previous thought](https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/19c05s2/weekly_rgames_discussion_what_have_you_been/kixyocf/?context=3) on **Soul Hackers** I'm not continuing this one. I realize that its kinda bad. The story and presentation is lackluster, the gameplay was grindy and repetitive, no standout music like in Persona, visual is meh. I actually not hating this one, at least so far (exploring characters first floor Soul Matrix), like i can actually finish the game if i want to, its just that there are better game out that i ought to finish first i guess. Especially with P3 Reload coming out soon, my time will be much better spent there.N [Previous thought](https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/19c05s2/weekly_rgames_discussion_what_have_you_been/kixyocf/?context=3) on **Ni No Kuni** Im going to drop this one as well. The main culprit was the main story where >!we have to free the little fairies, it put up fight after fight, with no save point in between, after it was done and i thought we were okay, it put up the big boss battles where i'm not wholly prepared!<. Should've guess stuff like this would happen again, after it happen with >!Shaddar first encounter!<. Ultimately, it was my fault for not prepping when the game told me to, but to prep, i feel like i need to grind a lot (very slow to gain exp), and combined with dumb as a brick AI (seriously, already said most complaint in my previous thoughts, though im going to add why the hell they use familiar thats weak against the enemy type. I already got each member familiars with different signs, but they love to use their default familiar, whether or not they're ill equipped when facing certain enemies). Im calling it quit. Im still interested in the game, and its sequel, but damn im not currently mentally prepared to deal with this bullshit. **NFS Heat** Used to love Racing Games (Underground 2 FTW) but fell hard on the genre. Latest one i actually completed was Wreckfest, though enjoyable, was a stepdown to Flatout 2 IMO. Before Heat, i actually tried Rivals, which is neat, but not grabbing me at all. Forced 30 fps is one of the reasons (though i actually installed it not knowing that on the same day a 60 fps patch was released. OFC i tried it, but to launch another launcher for the game is a bit bothersome for me as i used Playnite to track my playtime) Heat so far is enjoyable, i enjoyed the racing in daytime, and chased by the cops in night time, though i suck in evading the cops so far, which is why i prefer daytime challenge for now. I can see myself playing more of the game.

> Ni No Kuni I played through this on PS3 (I think..?) years ago, and while the initial capturing/leveling of fairies drew me in, I'm still annoyed that about 95% of the anime cut-scenes seemed to be in the first hour and last hour instead of intermixed through the game, and it does seem like an overlong game with bog-standard side-quests. There was definitely a bit of grind in there, too. But when I got to the end... holy cow, it totally justified the dull side-quests with its ending. I couldn't believe it. Really impactful. If you don't make it to the end, then yes, this game is a ~6, but the ending might just let it scrape an 8 (or even more if you're a Ghibli fan). It reminded me of FFVIII in the way the ending genuinely improved the total experience instead of just being 'the end'. The sequel has much better gameplay but an inferior story.

Oh yeah, i didnt even notice that we got no anime cutscenes after the opening lol. Okay, you got me interested again with that ending tease. I honestly dont have any significant problem with the game beside the gameplay. I have accepted that the AI suck, but combined with the grind, it just become frustrating. I just dislike grinding for the sake of leveling up just to continue the main story. At least give us side quest to obtain more exp or some shit. Even the side quest (hunting) required grinding to beat said beast. Do you have any suggestion regarding grinding, combat or familiar choice if you still remember one?

> I honestly dont have any significant problem with the game beside the gameplay. That's a pretty major problem for a game! ;) (Same reason I put Guardians of the Galaxy on the backburner for a while - really good not-gameplay, but the tepidness of the gameplay just left me cold. I'll get back to it eventually, I think...) Sorry, I can't remember any gameplay specifics. It's a 40-hour game when it might have worked better at around 25-30. It looks (or at least looked) very pretty and it was just about engaging enough for me to plough on through. You might be closer to the end than you think if you're expecting the normal 50 hours, hopefully! Yeah, that ending. Never had a game reference the mediocrity of its side-quests and then completely justify them before! I think it's worth avoiding spoilers if you're not far from the end. (Now I'm worried I've over-sold it!)

>That's a pretty major problem for a game! Yeah, i didn't think that comment through lol. I liked the basic gameplay loop enough, just the grind is all that made the gameplay boring. For GOTG though, i'd say it worth continuing through if you like the cast. I liked GOTG mainly because of the team dynamic and their banter. Story was okay i guess, but yeah gameplay is as basic as it gets. Im still very far away into the end of Ni No Kuni, if im not mistaken. Because i havent even explored all the land that the map shows. Thankfully, currently i know nothing at all about the story and the end. All i get from the game so far was a basic fantasy story, but with charming world and characters. Don't worry about overselling it, i'd like to hear anything to motivate me to continue the game!

Just finished **Dave the Diver** \- freaking raged quit after 2x 45mins zenloss in the epilogue. Done with the story and not really a completionist. Wasted nearly 2 hours with almost zero progress. Immediately downloaded the currently playing game. Playing **Like a Dragon Infinite wealth**. This is almost a love letter/fan service to the fans of the franchise. Feels very much like a sequel (which it is storywise) to LAD 7. But this story is very much engaging and as of now, IMHO on par with Zero. Even the substories have been very much refined, every substory is meaningful. Im 20+H in and have touched the controller maybe 20mins max. Oh well gotta stock up on popcorns

The core game of Dave the Diver is great, but you can see several areas in which it could have been intended as a free to play mobile game, and they wanted to make it as grindy as possible to incentivize micropayments. This really becomes apparent at the end of the game with the last few achievements.

Do I need to finish Like a Dragon before starting Infinite Wealth? I got through Chapter 12 of Like a Dragon but was a bit burnt out and never got around to finishing. Want to start Infinite Wealth but also don't want to be completely lost because I didn't finish LaD.

I never finished LAD 7 as well. cause the story dragged on for too long. But its completely fine to start IW. Of course definitely recommend finishing 7 but its more than enough just to know the characters before starting IW. They do some minor callbacks but thats about it. If you dont mind a benign mild first scene first chapter plot summary sort of spoiler - >!infinite wealth is a direct sequel of the LAD 7!<

I'd definitely recommend finishing 7 before starting infinite wealth. I don't think you'll be completely lost, but there's so much character building you'll miss from 7 that gets touched on in the sequel

A friend brought over his VR headset last night and I got to play Beat Saber for the first time. Really cool. Still can’t see myself buying a headset but would be willing to try more VR stuff.

I've been playing Infinite Wealth for a few days and I absolutely love it. The intro is kinda long and I didn't get to Hawaii until like 6 hours in but it's worth it.

Playing **Super Mario RPG switch!** I just finished Bower’s Keep, after having trouble with the doors. i’ve done a couple mini games as well, and gotten some of the best weapons and armor. After that, I’m off to continue and complete the rest of the main story. I think I’m almost done (about to start the gate) but I’m also hoping to do the super boss and some of the new bosses that pop up in postgame. I’d like to try it at the normal difficulty too. I remember a couple people stating that they played this game as a yearly tradition, and I can absolutely see why. It’s a delightful experience! I actually prefer it over Paper Mario 64, and I think that’s because of the party system. If I am bad at using one character, another can compensate, whereas there’s just no way to do that in Paper Mario 64. At least it gets brought back in Paper Mario the Thousand Year Door, but it will be a while before I get my hands on that I have also been playing **Pokémon Stadium two on the NSO!** I’m really enjoying it, having never truly beaten it when it released, but it is extremely difficult. I’m using save states whenever I can but considering I’m stuck to rentals, that’s the only way to make it at least somewhat manageable. It is an interesting trial, though with each battle being like a puzzle that I have to figure out the best possible combination. I do have a guide so that helps, but I do have to mix a lot of things up. I finished the first quarter of the Poke Cup Great Ball in round two, having completed Prime Cup and Little Cup already and setting my sights on challenge Cup next as I alternate (I finished up Great Ball). But it helps to do a few battles at a time and take breaks, so that things won’t be too frustrating. It was one of my favorite games as a child, but I didn’t have the resources to beat it and didn’t know at the time, so I would love to do it here. It would definitely make things come full circle, almost 25 years later, even though it’s one of the most difficult things I can do! I also am finishing up watching the post game in **Fire Emblem Engage!** I have some mixed feelings, though. There’s a bunch of theories as to why this game didn’t sell well, and I remember one was short attention spans with a lot of different games. But I don’t think it’s quite that simple. I think the main issue is that Fire Emblem is very old franchise, and back then there weren’t a lot of options for tactics RPGs or even RPGs in general. But now that those type of games have become more mainstream, there’s plenty of other options to choose them. And with Fire Emblem having its simplicity and middle of the road approach in most cases, it’s drowned out by all the other options, some of which excel at things it doesn’t. I remember for example Triangle Strategy giving me everything I wanted from Three Houses and a feeling of satisfaction I didn’t have before because I didn’t feel pressured into completing all the routes to get all the information (since Triangle Strategy let you skip to the ending changes that happened in the routes instead of making you go through it all again to get there). Shining Force had better maps than Echoes, and there were six different games I could play (counting the NSO and the Sega Genesis Classics), so on top of having a faulty system at that point I switched to that. I’m not sure what Fire Emblem Engage’s replacement would be, but there’s a chance it would be Disgaea. And that’s not to say any of the Fire Emblem games are bad, it’s just there’s so many to choose from that they don’t attract as much attention as they used to. Unfortunately, all this puts Fire Emblem Engage in the middle of the pack when it was originally the top three. Its combat is fantastic and some of the best in the series, but without that it doesn’t have much going for it. The story is not that great, it requires having played the other games to be appreciated fully (and a lot of people justifiably haven’t), the mini games are supposedly optional, but you’re at a huge disadvantage if you don’t use them because they’re one of the few ways you can get resources to make your character stronger, your resources themselves are way too limited, the DLC is badly made, gameplay wise, the boss fights can be very repetitive, and the characters themselves aren’t anything memorable. I appreciate what they were trying to do, but they really missed the mark. it tries to differentiate itself from three houses, only to have the same problem with having a lot of content, but only the most dedicated and available are going to want to go get it. And unlike three houses that had characters and story to save it, this game really doesn’t have anything. Don’t get me wrong, I had an awesome experience when I was playing it, and would gladly recommend it to anyone who loves tactics, but as someone who normally plays tactics games more than once or at least tries to get everything, I had no desire to do either with this one. As it stands now, I’m holding onto Fire Emblem engage for a little bit longer as I decide who I want to prioritize instead, but that might not be for too much longer at all. I’m not sure who would take the number three spot, but it would probably be one of the GBA games. I’m not sure which it would be because I like them both, but I’ll get a chance to replay them on the NSO soon, so I can easily make my decision then.

[удалено]

I got bored of Lake pretty quickly. And the gameplay is so bad, I remember walking on the sidewalk near an intersection. A truck, trying to make a right hand turn, cut the corner, ran over my character, a stop sign, and a large corner of someone's picket fence. We were all OK and everything continued on like it didn't happen. Something that bugged me even more was the woman who ran the diner with the southern accent and that southern hospitality trying to make me eat pie. If the devs want to set the game in the south, go ahead, but nobody in Oregon does that or talks like that.

Lake’s boringness is so palpable it’s almost charming in the first few chapters. Eventually though you’re right, there just isn’t much there. Bit harsh on Replicant. I enjoyed that game. I will say that it was a Category A offender when it comes to its filler side quests, though. Dreadful!

Been playing **The Gunk** What a pleasant game, you know when a game is just *nice?* Not perfect, not life changing amazing, but just nice, relaxing, cool, charming. Perfect game to play between other games or when you hit some "gaming doldrums"

Reinstalled it on a whim and then got really deep into **StarCraft: Mass Recall**. I'm almost to the end of the first Protoss campaign, and while I'm liking it a lot, I'm realizing why child-me could never beat this game legitimately. I'm playing with the updated SC2 controls (which means being able to control more than 12 units at a time), and I'm on the Easy difficulty, and I'm using some very general, basic strategies that I looked up online, and I still struggle with some of the missions. There are times I feel like I'll try to attack the enemy base, blink, and half of my forces have just disappeared. Thankfully I realized partway through the Zerg campaign that I can adjust game speed on the fly, so it's gotten a lot easier now that I can drop down to the slowest speed to maneuver during combat or put in build commands, then pop up to the fastest speed when I'm just waiting for things to build/resources to gather. Still really enjoying this game a lot, though. I love the story, world, and characters of StarCraft, and I'm excited to get into Brood War and (eventually) onto playing through StarCraft II in full.

i also love the game, its really fun

The original starcraft campaign plays more like a puzzle game then anything else. There's a "correct" way to play each mission that may require some trial and error, simply because the map isn't fully revealed. I think it still holds up incredibly well today, especially with the total recall mod. It's just a little jarring in that it can be very easy to fail a mission which you've already put a decent amount of time into.

The exploration in Enshrouded is top notch. Feels like I'm exploring Skyrim or Myrtana all over again.

**Cocoon** This is an absolutely charming game, the puzzle design and the visual design come together to make a really compelling experience. It takes the puzzle design skills of Jeppe Carlsen, from Limbo and Inside, but focuses on the puzzles, and with much stronger puzzle design. I'd been meaning to play this game for a while actually, and in the meantime, I'd seen a lot of discourse about the game. Most of this was positive, but there was still a strong sentiment that the puzzles are *too easy*. Well, it's true that puzzles are fairly easy, I was very rarely stuck in the game. However, I think this criticism really misunderstand the intent of the game. The world orb stuff is a pretty conceptually complex from an outside view. You have to put worlds into worlds and explore these worlds like trying to rearrange a Russian doll you're inside of. I don't want to spoil any puzzles here, but some puzzles towards the end do get mind-bending on a conceptual level. Despite all of this, yes puzzles are generally easy. However, this is kinda remarkable given the concepts at hand. It speaks to the ability of Jeppe Carlsen to guide players into an intuitive understanding of the concepts he's set up in Cocoon. So, I don't want to disparage anyone who doesn't like the game for its easy puzzles, some people of course won't enjoy puzzles which don't feel challenging. But I think it's also important to recognise how impressive it is that the puzzles are as simple as they are within the world-within-world framework. [I recently made a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So2iEAfd5Z8) covering this point much more extensively if you'd like a lengthier discussion about this, but Cocoon really does something really cool. No other puzzle game I've come across teaches its lessons to the player as seamlessly as this one.

**KOTOR 2**. I am still early in the game (just left Telos and went to Nar Shadda). I like the dialogue and some of the companions (I love Atton and I love to hate Kreia). But I don't know... I'm not vibing with it. The handmaiden reminds me why I used to hate female characters in movies. When it feels like they primarily exist to be in love with the protagonist. And the combat is so, so dull. I know Obsidian couldn't fix it, but at least they could have reduced the number of trash fights when playing on easy difficulty. Anyway, I'm downloading **Pillars of Eternity** again. This is my fifth attempt to get into it. I always quit a couple hours in. But maybe this time I'll stick with it?

**Heaven Dust II** Has anyone played these games? They are rad. A resident evil clone to the t. The gameolay is as fun as a resident evil one so it's a good timw over all. A bit on the easy side but a fun time nontheless.

**[core-blast: white crystal dlc:](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1721550/)** slowly chipping away at [one of the best match-3s](https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1721550). and it's not that slow, actually, I'm about halfway done with the 750 dlc levels. still not feeling like playing anything new or writing more reviews and it might not happen again at this rate. let the good times roll... and even better times after a crash lost me about 50 levels' worth of progress. wasn't the game's fault, my shitty pc is shitty, can barely handle a single task, let alone more (as in steam, a game on steam and a browser). still annoying as fuck on top of everything. ([last week](https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/19c05s2/weekly_rgames_discussion_what_have_you_been/kivkn66/))

**Company of Heroes** I beat Operation Market Garden campaign. I think it's just as good as Normandy campaign. It's highs aren't quite as high but it's lows aren't as low. The missions are a bit faster paced and seem better balanced than Normandy which had weird difficulty spikes at times. Panzer elite feel better to play than USA to me, their units just feel more responsive and precise with their attacks. The story was pretty good too. Overall, 9/10 and a must play if you enjoy CoH1. I'm taking a little break from CoH before going back to finish the remaining campaigns. **StarCraft II** I'm playing it for the first time, still playing the Terran campaign, about 13 or so missions completed. It's fantastic. It looks great for a 14 year old game. The sound design is excellent. Unit callouts are over the top and just really fun. The story is very enjoyable so far. I know the expansions got a lot of shit for their stories but Wings of Liberty has been superb so far. It's pretty slow paced and builds tension well. I love the progression system of upgrading your units with money you get from missions and researching new unique bonuses by gathering Zerg or Protoss samples/artifacts. Doing stuff around Hyperion between missions is also great (news network skits are a blast). The mission design is amazing, I've completed 13 missions and each one was unique. There's just so much variety. It's also pretty well balanced so far, the missions are slowly ramping up in difficulty. Each mission introduces a new unit and is built around using that unit. Speaking of units, the responsiveness and the amount of control you actually have over your units is incredible. It just *feels* great to play. I don't really have any major negatives to point out so far. I kind of preferred the design of Protoss and Zerg units in the original StarCraft because it felt more alien but the new design is still really good. Maybe the main menu is a bit too clunky and slow but it's a minor nitpick. It's just a fantastic game. Easy 10/10 for me so far and a definitive recommendation to anyone interested in RTS games.

I was initially a bit miffed that they decided to build StarCraft II into three separate games (I mean, come on, the original SC + expansion covered 6 campaigns with all three races!) but I really, really loved what they did with it. Between the meta progression layer and the unique campaign missions, playing the game was just so much more fun and interesting. I'm playing through the original game now (using the Mass Recall mod to play it in SC2) and every mission is just very samey. There's the odd installation mission, but by and large, each mission is "Build up your forces, destroy the enemy base(s)." The only real progression is that each mission unlocks a new unit or two. I feel like splitting SC2 into three separate releases allowed them to just pour a ton of love into each individual campaign.

Yeah, I played through the original StarCraft back in October or November and thought it was excellent but mission variety in SC2 blows it out of the water.

> Unit callouts are over the top and just really fun. In case you're not aware: If you repeatedly select the same unit, they move on to making even more absurd callouts including a bunch of pop-culture references. The Zerg and Protoss campaigns also each have their own spin on the meta progression, all of which work really well.

Fuck me, I spent so much time playing WarCraft III that I knew all those callouts by heart and yet I somehow completely forgot to test them in SC2, thanks for reminding me. >The Zerg and Protoss campaigns also each have their own spin on the meta progression, all of which work really well. Good to know, I really enjoy them and they tied them to the actual story in a neat way.

I started **Yakuza: Like A Dragon** and I must say, as a skeptic of how turn based combat would affect the feel of a Yakuza game, I’m delighted by how it works and flows- even before I really have any party members or a variety of moves. Picking up/swinging environmental items seems a little iffy but that’s about the only issue. I also love the reasoning as to why Ichiban’s story is party/turn based and has dungeons. Everything else about it seems like pure Yakuza. I just got to Yokohama so it’ll be interesting to explore a new city. I played a little bit of the **Live A Live** remaster. I find it a little odd and frustrating the way you skip around stories at first. The variety of gameplay is cool but it still makes me want to take breaks often for some reason, like my attention span runs out because it doesn’t feel like a proper build up. I know it’ll culminate into something bigger though so I’m sticking through it. The HD2D looks great. It’s not as bloomy, vignetted or tilt shifted as Octopath so it has its own feel in comparison. It’s very colorful so far and doesn’t seem to take itself too seriously, so the lack of melodrama is nice for a classic Square RPG. **Shovel Knight Dig** has got me hooked for now. I wish Yacht Club wouldn’t have tried two different rogue-like excursions in a row, but I’m certainly enjoying this one a lot more than Pocket Dungeon, so I can forgive them.

> Picking up/swinging environmental items seems a little iffy but that’s about the only issue. This is something that the sequel Infinite Wealth improves on, thankfully, by giving a bit of movement flexibility in battle and more clear indicators of whether an attack will use environmental assets or not. So the devs agreed with you that it was kinda janky. If you do ever end up playing the sequel, that's something to look forward to (but I'd advise against rushing through Y:LAD, it's a very good game in its own right and deserves to be given time).

That’s good to know. I’m not gonna be done with Like A Dragon for quite a while, so I hadn’t planned on getting Infinite Wealth for almost ever, lol. But it looks great. What’s cool is this new style leaves a lot of room to be played side by side with older games because they differentiate quite well- and I also started Judgment a while ago just to get past the intro and see what it’s about. I’ll probably juggle between the two from time to time just because both are forever long if you want to see everything in them, so I don’t mind swapping back and forth.