Damn, Dilma doesn’t fuck around
2 Likes
Operation Flashpoint (Arma: Cold War Assault)! The campaign is really fun once you get past the game’s age and some jank. I find it quite a satisfying military shooter with a lot of fun systems and variation in situations.
I’ve started Darksiders over for the 4th time.
I didn’t own the PS4 copy I initially played, then I got it on Xbox 360, but playing Xbox 360 nowadays sucks, so I bought the entire series for sale on Steam. However, Darksiders Warmastered Edition didn’t work correctly on my PC so I played the original Darksiders PC version (helpfully included when you purchase Warmastered) but then when I switched Linux distros the Steam cloud didn’t keep my progress for some reason. Then I saw they updated Warmastered because a new PS5 version launched and now the game works great.
I was worried it would be a slog to do the same stuff over again for the 4th time but no this game is kinda just really fun and I’m definitely going to beat it this time around. It’s very much like pre-Breath of the Wild 3D Zelda games but with fancy Hack n’ Slash combat, and even more 2000’s edge than Twilight Princess.
A few things were annoying to have to do again (mostly the trials, if you’ve played it you know what I’m talking about) but after 10 hours I’m already the farthest I’ve gotten into the game.
2 Likes
Picked up a game this morning with the following title.
ahem
KOTAMON: My Sis Found A Super-Rare Card In Her Cereal Box, So I Became A Garbage Man To Find The Entire Collection And Earn $1,000,000!
I like it. It’s a simple sim where you pick up garbage in big piles to find pieces of cards, dirty cards, and the odd collectable, earning money by sending filled bags to a disposal thing in the yard’s corner.
It has a simple and fun loop but the real draw was the art, which is horny but in that very specific, online “I watch anime and think I am a comedian” way. Lots of dumb references, casual drinking beer from a vending machine to regain energy, absurd body proportions, and he lead characters are a cute catboy and his dumb catgirl sister who gets used in a lot of UI art, including an illustration of her top half stuck in a washing machine for a button to reset the game if you get stuck in a garbage pile titled “Stuck?” It’s a very stupid vibe and I appreciate it.
Anyways their next game is looking like a Papers Please parody and I implore you to please watch the trailer
Finally getting around to Elden Ring as my brother started playing and I felt left out - so far I’m predictably loving the bosses (although Margit can fuck right off), but honestly I’m really missing the density and linearity of Dark Souls?
I think maybe open world games just aren’t my thing
2 Likes
Finally getting into Battletech through the 2018 game. I’m enjoying it, I really dig the shitty future where everyone is scrounging up robot parts, but I do rub up to some of the same friction with it I do with any tabletop adaptation. The RNG can be absolute hell at times. However, I am still grasping the basics, so that should change soon enough. Going for a tactics/gunnery pilot build.
Also started playing another Winter Wolves game, this time I decided to get something mostly standalone (mostly since Christine’s Care is supposed to share continuity) and started Volleyball Heaven, which I thought was just going to be a yuri sex romp comedy but then got smacked with a mountain of angst, gaynst, deep insecurity between two rust belt girls, and then eventually the gay comedy started.
I like it! One of the few pure VNs from the studio and I like the change of pace, just stick to the story and that approach worked well here. Deals with a lot of serious subject matter but handles it pretty well, and I was surprised by how good the character writing was. Everyone talks in a distinct way, and the pacing of the reveals of their various hidden quirks and depths is well handled. Excellent attention to detail.
1 Like
Replaying CASTLEVANIA: CIRCLE OF THE MOON through the compilation on Steam.
I love that it tells you which enemies can drop cards. most card combos are of dubious use but it’s nice not to miss any.
Also, this game is way easier than I remember it being. I’m starting the Chapel and i’ve yet to die once. That said, I’m sure i’ll still struggle against the Zombie Dragons.
Also lmao at the Card Combo that, when activated… increases your Intelligence, buffing your magic attack 25%. (To my knowledge, Intelligence only affect spells so using your spell to increase Int does nothing.)
I also tried the fucking brain staircase twice and it’s such a frustrating thing to deal with. Augh!
2 Likes
I have been chilling the fuck out doing long hauls in American Truck Simulator. I don’t have many of the DLC states, just the entire west coast and some of the southwest, but I’ve finally found my groove in just carrying something big and heavy across the scenery while listening to podcasts and honest to god falling asleep and slamming into oncoming traffic. Really makes you understand why truckers need mandatory breaks.
I’m inclined to get another state or two when they’re on sale but I think I might actually spring for Euro Truck Sim 2 instead, because as nice as the American scenery is I want a bit more of a local vibe.
3 Likes
Dropping back in to say that I’ve started to relax a little and appreciate the game on its own terms, and am enjoying it vastly more as a result.
I’d also like to say that I have absolutely no idea what the fuck I was on about describing Souls games as “linear” in my original post because they’re absolutely not! Still, I do find that the Souls games did a better job of communicating the intended route to the player through level design rather than relying on a big glowing line in the sky, although given the scale of the world it’s something of an understandable compromise.
The environments have all been distinct and full of beautiful vistas and striking locations, with contrasts like the rugged, windswept terrain of Stormhill to the eerie glow of Liurnia of the Lakes (although the East Coast of Liurnia under the light of the moon and stars was gorgeous!). Weeping Peninsula in particular felt very familiar from holidays on the coast here in the UK, complete with miserable grey skies and rain to make me feel right at home.
I’m less sold on some of the mechanics associated with open world games that feel included for the sake of padding. The various tombs, caves and dungeons are already starting to feel stale, and I refuse to engage with the crafting mechanics because I’m just done with crafting in games at this point. I do not want to craft. I want to hit things with big stick. No more recipe books or berries please.
My absolute highlight so far, then, has been Castle Morne, which removed most of the open world elements and focussed on a self-contained, tightly-packed stage riddled with shortcuts and branching paths, full of varied and challenging encounters. I loved the verticality here, and the options different routes opened up for combat and stealth. Godrick also made for a spectacular boss, especially the transitional cutscene to the second phase!
1 Like
I’m back Milding wildly… Why not. (Monster Hunter Wilds is getting an expansion soon, i should prep.)
EDIT: improved the fit
1 Like
Trying to play through some Winter Wolves games to set up TV Tropes pages. Pet project of mine.
So, some quick thoughts!
Love Bites - Rough but I liked it overall. The raising sim elements feel tacked on and mostly just to serve to railroad you into jealousy scenes due to how romances work, which I’m not wild about. However, the horror elements are really well done, your lead being cursed and slowly turning into something else. I like how it uses this concept in a clever way by drawing parallels to having a terminal illness, and how the various love interests handle that. I also really like the character artist for this one, very energetic characters with some great horror stuff, and the fact that every love interest is a different twist on a famous horror movie monster of some sort is really fun. I went with the witch, but i was tempted by the Frankenstein mad scientist dork with, let’s say, a shocking problem he’s dealing with. Difficult to recommend but I do think there’s something neat here and want to play that sequel soon. Just a heads up, there is one romance route with a step-sibling, but you can drop that line on week four or so before it develops.
Volleyball Heaven - Heads up, this one is not the sunshiny funny game you may think it is based on the volleyball theme. The girls in this yuri game are a walking mountain of dysfunction each, but I think it works overall. The messy drama is treated more seriously, and it makes when things do go right or they make things work hit better. I really like the lead is a former wild girl from the deep south who’s like that because of her status as a closet lesbian, lots of colorful narration. All the love interests are interesting too. This one does deal with some heavier subject matter, so warning for (from what I’ve seen) alcoholism, an attempted assault during the Christmas party (it gets interrupted before anything happens, thankfully), and one scene at the same party where you catch a teammate in a sexual act with someone (consensual but with a guy, unsure if this scene plays if you’re on the romance path for that character).
Tales From The Under-Realm: Hazel - Great! It’s an Aravorn set game, like Loren the Amazon Princess, but most of its connective tissue is with Amber’s Magic Shop, but you don’t need to have played either to enjoy it. An attempt at a dark fantasy yuri game that has some wonky writing from The Nameless God who butts into the story here and there to offer commentary, but otherwise is a gripping story about a witch trying to escape a prison with the help of an assassin or a paladin acting as her jailer who’s clearly kinder then she lets on, with trust issues all over the place. Some interesting twists, doesn’t last too long, and getting the best ending for either route feels fantastic.
At Your Feet - I still can’t get over this game got made because Celso Riva made some posts musing about how funny foot fetishes are and then went “what if that was a game” and then made that into a game and commissioned a cutesy theme song about having a foot fetish. Very fluffy, cute little dating sim about a girl secretly into feet meeting other girls she’s crushing on. I like the two endings system from Love Bites got used here, each love interest having two endings based on your dialog choices nudging them to two different life paths. Gives an otherwise simple game some more meat.