I started Delta Force: Black Hawk Down as a nostalgia run and euh.. I feel like even for those times it didn’t do anything nearing realism and my brain mostly remembers the Delta Force series having quite the focus on that. But I’ll continue being amazed and confused by it regardless as I am working on something in relation to that game.
The game I’m enjoying more right now is World in Conflict, didn’t expect it to start with a Soviet mission and it making beyond zero sense has been funny so far. On the upside, even though the US is invaded, the Soviet aren’t inherently shown as pure monsters which I didn’t expect.
Got back into Legend of Grimrock 2. I remembered it as incredibly awkward and obtuse even for 2014. It is both at times, but I have a lot more patience for it now than I had… oh gods 12 years ago. Chrono-terror aside, I think it does generally do a good job keeping solutions attainable by thinking logically about the world you’re in. Some stuff sadly still has the “Developers thought of this really funny joke at your expense, but nobody’s laughing because they aren’t here to witness it”. That’s mostly a leeway thing and could go a lot of different ways depending on the player.
I think the puzzles and the pretty open world are my favourite aspects. There is something slightly maddening (affectionate!) to wanting to check this one little alcove and you’re suddenly three new areas deep. The puzzles often require you to really check the surrounding for clues. Which means this is probably the only game that made me intensely study generic_rock_texture3.png to satisfaction lol
I think the one thing that really brings it down are the fights. Dealing with 4 characters that have specific range restrictions; attacks having cooldowns irrespective of whether it’s melee, ranged, magic, whatever; magic itself needing a submenu; and enemies acting on a semi-turn based system that only helps you more than it hurts you if you know how to exploit it… Yeah, not really my cup of tea. It feels weirdly between two seats. On the one hand, they let you kite enemies around so you take no damage if your timing’s good. On the other hand, those fights mean you often have to walk around the same few squares for ages until your pitiful weapons get it down. Don’t even think you can take on more than one enemy group unless you are very well prepared.
However, even though I keep my play sessions brief, I do still enjoy making a bit of progress here and there. Honestly, I think I just need to experience more games like this to actually see if I like it or not lol
The only other game that comes to mind is Valbrace from Ufo 50, which I really liked!
So if you have any other recommendations for first person turn-based dungeon crawling, I’d love to hear them!
I’ll toss out the 3DS version of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. It’s tough so be sure to save often, but it is manageable if you have patience. Don’t be afraid to use a guide if you feel you need it.
I recommend the 3DS version, in particular, because it has a lot of quality of life improvements, and some genuinely great new content that just straight up improves on just about every aspect of the original. My favorite addition are + routes for each of the three paths (law, chaos, and neutral) where you can actually get better endings for each, making it so your choices aren’t just The Good Choice or Monster. They’re also thematically strong and some of my favorite takes of the SMT morality system.
Played Hide and Luig on a friends recommendation - it’s a tiny browser game, with really charming puzzle design and absolutely adorable art. Won’t take you more than a few minutes to play, highly recommend!
I ended up returning to Pathfinder: Kingmaker in a repeating act of masochism. Every once in awhile, I end up re-installing this game, enjoying it after getting used to how much more punishing it is compared to WotR, and then hit the quest pile up of chapter five and just get really annoyed by how many quests demand your attention at once, with massive consequences for failing them, but not telling you which ones are actually timed, because now the language for all the quests crashing into a pile during a barbarian invasion is the same thing that’s usually said when a quest is timed. Not all of these quests are timed. So, which ones are timed? NOBODY KNOWS!
I’ll just have to turn off the part of my brain that screams about scheduling when I get there.
Playing as a thundercaller bard this time and this class rules. I like you just get a free AOE stun you can easily spam, and it’s so feat rich that I could easily nab fencing grace by level three. It plays significantly different than a vanilla bard, which helps me feel unique next to Linzi, especially since I’m speced for melee. I normally go for rogue/duelist but thundercaller/eldrich knight is looking way more enjoyable this time. I did pop this game open again to try and play as a cleric but the cleric not getting perception as a trained skill was an absolute no-go. Skill checks happen way more in this game, and they’re way tougher, so I need several skill rich characters in my party at all times, including my MC.
No for real this is a really good game (as everyone saw coming). it’s also difficult without being too difficult for me, which is perfect. It’s got this like Super Mario Odyssey approach to map design on top of being a top-down Legend of Zelda style game. So many chests that seem inaccessible but can be gotten by cleverly looking around the adjacent screen. And yeah, most often it’s gonna be a like 200 bonedust gem, which isn’t much, but more often it’s something else like a new upgrade of some sort.
The bosses i beat so far kept me on my toes in a satisfying way. The trinkets more all feel if not unique, at least useful. I’ve yet to try weapons other than the Whip/Flail but its fully upgraded form is really fun to use.
And that’s not getting in on the jumping/burrowing mechanic. The traversal is fun. You can jump over 1 tile but if you hold the jump button, you burrow. while you’re down (which you can only stay underground for like 2 or maybe 3 seconds) you move faster which means that when you pop out with a jump, you can jump over 2 tiles instead. and that’s huge. a lot of obstacles need to be either jumped over or burrowed under… And then there’s the hidden and not-so-hidden objects you can break to open a path. it’s really nice.
My Kingmaker character ended up being an aasamir sorcerer with snake people blood, which means they have a little poisonous fang I can use for bite attacks, get bonuses with stealth (because I am a sneaky snake), extra summon spells, and a little viper buddy who helps me be even more absurdly persuasive. It’s a very funny combo when you’re chaotic good.
Should have picked sorcerer from the start. That was what I started my WotR character as, and I finished the game with her (in that case, a dhamphir with undead and gold dragon blood and you’ll never guess what she ended up becoming for the first stretch and the last act). My legend WotR character will also probably be a sorcerer because it’s just a really fun class.
I never need to draw maps so this is new to me. pretty fun, too. Thankfully, this is a pretty small map to fill out.
Also I forgot this game had Lynels. Remember Lynels? you can’t block the swords they throw with your shield. I’m on the lookout for the second Dungeon now.
Just finished the main story of Metro Exodus. It was good, but still came away from it a bit disappointed. The more open areas just don’t have the same oppressive vibe as the confined metro in the first two games, and I feel like the game’s systems didn’t increase in complexity to match. Still played it one easy because it is, after all, a Metro game, and they don’t fuck around.
Also the NPCs talk way too much in this game. It’s like they had free voice booth time or something.
I’m hoping the DLCs provide a more streamlined experience.
Kingmaker run over because I realized the cloud saves lost a lot of my old saves - including my cleared one for the Varnhold’s Lot DLC, which I refuse to ever, EVER play ever again. Truly one of the worst experiences I have ever had in a video game, full of bullshit traps and unskippable cutscenes with no voice acting that go on far, FAR longer then they are supposed to so the devs are absolutely sure you read all of the dialog that amounts to fey calling you a fucker, oh and also all of those cutscenes ARE HAPPENING IN GAME TIME, MEANING THAT THIS RUNS OUT MY BUFFS EVERY SINGLE TIME IT HAPPENS AND THERE’S NOTHING I CAN DO ABOUT IT.
So I refuse to subject that to myself ever again. Instead, I will be looking at some weird old FMV games including checks notes a spy thriller made in conjunction with a former CIA director and a KGB agent developed by Activision.
I started on Death Stranding. I don’t really vibe with the over the top self-referential videogameness of it all but man am I a sucker for a big high budget world to explore. I kinda wish it were more focus even more on the simple act of hiking than all the extra technology stuff and the combat, but this is a big ol’ triple cheeseburger and I’m gonna eat it slowly.
I loved “Death Stranding”. Hands down one of my favorite experience playing a video game.
Without spoiling anything, it pushed my buttons and rubbed me the right way t he entire time. I get why some people might cringe at it/from it but to me that was like added texture, added ludonarrative friction.
Hope you enjoy it, and if you don’t… Well, there’s always the next game over.
Oh I watched an LP of it back when it came out, I’m fully spoiled but always knew it would appeal to me in spite of and because of the Kojima weirdness. In fact, getting my hands on the game personally now is already informing both a future video and the game I’m working on. I can already tell it’s gonna be a solid 90 hours of my life.
Checked around and the issue is not that the game lost my DLC clear data but the character I was using in a main campaign that I imported to that DLC because it has to do that for the sake of the opening cutscene, and that seemed to have completely borked it as a result. I’m more knowledgeable of Pathfinder rules now so maybe things will be easier this time.
For now, I decided to just make a new character. Went with a half-elf aldori defender/evoker wizard with the plans to spec into eldrich knight after two levels of aldori defender and however much it takes to get to level three spells for wizard.
Reasons for this are many.
I need a face character as the party lead but was getting frustrated by my Sorcerer being skill-lite and having low BAB (base attack bonus), which is a problem for this game specifically because of several moments where you, the player character, have to deal with a threat in a one-on-one situation. Well, the skill thing is because I really, really want skills so I don’t have to rely on certain party members too much in party comp.
I like hitting things with sword in general and dueling sword with good BAB is just good overall. I can actually finesse wield it, which helps with my AC (your not get hit number, gets a dexterity bonus)
I like spells a lot and I really like level nine spells because getting hit with a level nine spell hurts a fuck ton.
I forgot to explain how being a nerd fighter makes me a face, well that’s because a half-elf gets a free skill focus, and wizards get a little animal buddy who gives a passive stat bonus. You’ll never guess what I picked. Smart boy skill points otherwise go to perception (which half-elves get a bonus on and I get training in that with eldrich knight), knowledge world, and knowledge arcana. I have multiple party members for lifting things or running fast (particularly Amiri).
Playing Chrono Cross, with the intent to beat it this time.
got the the end of Act II when everything blows up in your face.
What a gorgeous game.
I forgot the Hydra Swamp thing and how it points you to do a genocide and destroy an ecological niche without telling you it’s gonna be that, then chastises you for doing it when it’s too late to turn back. at the second Choice Branch… Ah well.
I still think the way the game handles level ups and the massive amount of party members is really clever. I love the Element system too.
I still need to actually play that game. I already have strong opinions on it, though, having loved Chrono Trigger ever since it was first released. Too many characters, imo.
At least Suikoden actually develops the myriad of characters you recruit. CC develops a handful of characters and leaves the rest to rot.
Can you tell that I loved the character development in CT? The main story might not have been the best, but the character writing more than made up for it.
