SleepingSilence

Video Game Discussion: Part IV (The Gaming Industry in Decay Arc)

It feels like a perfect coincidence that a youtuber I'm following made a "It's a pretty game, but..." video. When that exact feeling is a lot of what I've finished playing lately.

Axol's Quest - Someone's first RPG maker game and it shows. Art style/humor is probably its best features. (And even that is inconsistent.)
The 2nd to last boss (that should be optional) has 50,000 HP and no checkpoints. Ain't nobody got time for that.

Moon River - It's a free walking simulator/RPG maker game on Steam. It looks pretty and functions. But that's about it. (Okay/10)

The Labyrinth On Burrow Hill - An actual solid "Alice In Wonderland"-esque puzzle game. (That looks a bit like Blue Prince art-wise.) Though the camera given to you is only useful for end game backtracking. (This one is for people who like taking notes.)

Neva - More challenging than I'd expect an "art game" to be. Though not for the best reasons. It's a pretty game, but the ending is beyond unsatisfying. So I couldn't recommend buying it, despite it being a notable improvement over Gris.

Bramble: The Mountain King - This game looks nice too. Has a lot of dark fantasy tropes. But the boss fights in this game are fucking horrendous.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 - I do not see the hype this one got. It looks very good, once again. But the gameplay is incredibly shallow. The load times are egregiously slow. And the way you gain HP/armor back is incredibly immersion breaking and almost infinitely exploitable. So while it might work as a power fantasy for some. For me, the gameplay was absolutely brainless. (Neva had me trying harder in combat.)

I'd have more things reviewed by now. But now I'm actually playing a lot more of For The King 2 with friends. (Still can't believe that my bug report is the reason the game is functional on Playstation.) So it's taking me longer to play through the rest of my catalogue.

Edit: +18 hours in/entering Act 2 of Final Fantasy 16 and I'm feeling another "It's a pretty game, but..." is a fitting description of this one too. Honestly, the combat system/sheer spectate of it kicks all kinds of ass. (Easy as it is.) But the side-quests, characters and plot's pacing are all so poor/generic that once the first act is over. I can immediately feel the drop in quality & its addition of yet another currency to farm w. monsters that one-shot you, feels like blatant padding/time-wasting.

What Are You Listening To?

Perfect song to start my morning.

Video Game Discussion: Part IV (The Gaming Industry in Decay Arc)

I played 45+ demos for the Nextfest & I tried several of the free/100% discounted games that Steam had given out over the past few days.

(Something that helped me find a few potential gems and "streamlined" my wishlist/followed games. Like how Dinoblade couldn't even load its textures in the level & gave me another reason why I hate the Unreal Engine 5.)

But it gave me something to do. So there's value in that. (Sojourn Past was probably the best demo of the Nextfest.) And here's a few positive reviews...

Lingo feels a bit like Wordle for masochists and non-Euclidian maze enthusiasts. But it did keep me engaged for as long as its more "video-gamey" sequel. (About 20 hours.) It's a game with a seemingly endless amount of obscure puzzles in it. Though I felt like I got a lot more accomplished in this one.

Hypogea was another bite-sized (two-three hour) platformer that was a good time. Mostly good gameplay feel. (Only got stuck at maybe one or two particular jumps.)

I've obviously played more than that & I have more games to try. (Will almost certainly take advantage of the Steam Summer Sale too.) But I guess I haven't found anything I'd "strongly recommend" yet. I'd say Pragmata is an 8 out of ten & it's still probably the best thing I've played this year...

GTA 6 will obviously suck. (Likely compared negatively to the last game by those who are actual fans of the series.) But I can't help but hope that it has a Cyberpunk-esque launch. So everyone who pays "the stupid tax" will have a greater sense of buyer's remorse & maybe the game's sales numbers will actually suffer as a result of that. Cuz I certainly don't want $100 games to be the norm. But knowing how much money GTA Online whales will make them in the future...(I don't foresee them failing/falling as hard as other studios as of late.)

What Are You Listening To?

Still Remains - Spirit Breaker (The entire EP is strong.) Sounds a lot better on Spotify.

What Are You Listening To?

Dude's younger than me. R.I.P

Video Game Discussion: Part IV (The Gaming Industry in Decay Arc)

Twitter has kept me (and many others) suspended for fuck all reason. Because the support system is completely broken. (With automated support sending emails erroneously claiming to have restored your account.) Only relevant, because it's often where I got my gaming news.

Unfortunately, it's been mostly bad news...

Steam will no longer support physical gift cards at the end of the year.

And RPG Maker forums are being shut down at the end of the year.

Goddamn.

My little dash of positive to counterbalance, is that 'Poco' was an enjoyable free point-n-click puzzle game on Steam. (It does have a really jank fishing mini-game though.) But nothing's perfect.

Steam's been giving away a bunch of free games that I've downloaded to try. (And I'll likely grab a couple more games off my Wishlist later.) Because I've been bored as fuck.

Also, Smite 2 is a blatant cash grab & Hi-Rez can't even do that right.

Video Game Discussion: Part IV (The Gaming Industry in Decay Arc)

Another game beat & I posted this review to Steam.

I only got 75% item completion, and I might've missed a side boss or two. But I think I'm satisfied to move on from credits.

My overall feelings are positive. And I think the game's strengths are stronger than its weaknesses. But there's some fairly obvious low points and flaws. (Like the Battletoad-esque tower sections that end every dungeon on a sour note. With the most floaty controls of the whole game, and each time felt like an absolute chore to play through.)

People comparing this to Shovel Knight (even if it is by the same studio) feels like they haven't played it. Because this game wears its inspirations transparently on its sleeve. Silksong (Side-arms reliance especially.) & Dark Souls 2/3. (Similar bosses and end game 'spam enemies' level design.)

I've also told four separate people that I was playing this and they responded "Oh, the hard game?" So let me be clear about the difficulty here. This is not Silksong Act 1. (2 or 3) Mina The Hollower's best strength is how open-ended and rewarding it is to explore from the very start. And you'll be max level, before the game's even halfway over. (I was.)

The truth is, at least for me, the game's difficulty is kind of all over the place. (Except the absurd difficulty spike of The Radiant Manor that was just exhausting to get through.) And it feels rather unbalanced and frustratingly trial-and-error at points.

My question for everyone who did beat the game, or is currently going through it, what "tactic" did you use for the game? (And did you ever *need* to change it?) Because almost every encounter in the game seemed like this was meant to be bested by the age old strategy of "random ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ go!"

Side arm spam is the only way a normal person is getting through some of these encounters 1st try. My Axes always did more damage than my Mace (my weapon throughout the whole game) and every second enemy has a shield or flies. So my side arm was always more effective at damage AND range. (My two change-ups that weren't "win by axe spam" was Thorne's 2nd fight, the single time bombs were ever useful for me. And the parasol for the final boss' first phase.) But even then, without side arm spam, I highly doubt I would've defeated these bosses first or second try.

Though I'd still challenge everyone who thinks the game is "too hard". Because it's incredibly generous in giving the player more chances/upgrades. (I lost my bones once the whole game, I think.) But it's undeniably frustrating. The Mined Mind is the worst creature to ever exist in an otherwise incredibly easy near-end game level. Yet the hardest level mechanically & the best one by being cruel in a memorable way, is the wind / chase sequence level. (My third dungeon.)

TLDR: A positive mixed bag in terms of enjoyment. Really loved the opening hours. Had some good humor. Feel like the game does well at intrinsically rewarding the player. But I wanted the final level to be over. (A game like Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo comparatively is just a blast to play all the way through.) 7.5/10? (Will rate 4/5 stars on Playstation.)

What Are You Listening To?

Video Game Discussion: Part IV (The Gaming Industry in Decay Arc)

I left the gaming discords I joined, after I quickly discovered that they do not any play video games. An easy mistake to make.

I downloaded a bunch of free games on Steam (16 of them) in hope to find something easy to recommend. But the best things had bugs that prevented me from completing them.

And a friend & I tried to play the Outward 2 playtest. (Key word try.) But it had a lousy, useless tutorial. Performance was unreal. (Unreal 5, and it sucked/stuttered on low settings.) And it crashed immediately whenever we tried to join each other's game. Big thumbs down.

On a positive note, Mina The Hollower is a punishing game. But it is far more open-ended and rewarding to explore than Silksong was during its first act. Masterpiece? Don't know about that yet. But it's been a solid start.

Microfiction & Poetry contest #14 - new beginnings (voting and feedback)

Vote: Nameless
Reason: Felt like a complete story idea in half the words you could've used. (And while unnecessary. I do think using the forum code for writing should be utilized more often than it is.) Feels like a prologue to a story that I'd want to read. (And wanting to read more of someone's writing feels like the best compliment one could give.)

Close 2nd: A first bud
Reason: Probably has some of my favorite sentences in it. Think it uses the right amount of 'purple prose' that makes sentences artful and not something that makes your eyes glaze over the page. (Or compels you to whip out the same thesaurus the writer used.) Also, points given for not just using "New Beginning" (the exact wording of the theme) directly in your story.