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Tried The Ascent because of just how slick it looked in the previews I saw. And you’re right, the atmosphere is great. But I have a low tolerance for the looter shooter format and I don’t play much online coop, so I got real bored of it real fast.
Tried The Ascent because of just how slick it looked in the previews I saw. And you’re right, the atmosphere is great. But I have a low tolerance for the looter shooter format and I don’t play much online coop, so I got real bored of it real fast.
I’ve been enjoying Pacific Drive this week. It’s a great survival crafting game in the vein of Subnautica, which is to say there is a linear progression path for upgrades and improvement, and a well-defined objective and end goal.
I just wish it was less stressful. Even just the normal act of activating a gateway to end a run requires a race through your current zone where one misstep can cause you to get stuck long enough to fail. And sometimes conditions just really stack up against you in a way that can be unexpected and frustrating.
Overall though it really hits the spot with its loop. I love returning to the garage and going through the ritual of healing, fueling up, recharging, transferring supplies, and checking on upgrades.
Oh…I also finished and platinumed 13 sentinels earlier this week. I enjoyed that one a lot more than I expected. It’s as compelling as it is eye-rollingly funny how many sci-fi tropes the main story burns through, but I i was frequently and pleasantly taken by surprise. And the battle system, which through the first area I thought was so easy it was basically a formality, really did become more challenging and tactical, especially when trying to get S ranks.
I kind of love Control’s navigation. The map is helpful enough to point you in the right direction, but also shitty enough that you have to pay attention to the diagetic signage. It’s uniquely immersive.
13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim. I am about 25% through with both Remembrance and the battles… Destruction? I’m in awe of the narrative’s complexity. It’s also a little overwhelming, it feels impossible to get any kind of handle on things. The game adds new layers every time you think you’re getting it.
Im really enjoying it though, the mystery is really fun to dig at.
I also beat Malenia this week, which is pretty much the last major thing I had left in my first Elden Ring save. I got help of course (thanks superelva11), but it’s been really satisfying tying a bow on that. 140 hours, plus another 30-35 on a second save - Elden Ring is officially the most time I’ve ever spent on a single game by quite a large margin.
Good luck my friend. Hollow Knight is a special one, but those bosses can be punishing. A few of them took me separate sessions over a few days, which is a frustrating way to play games for me, but it’s such a rewarding experience otherwise. I recently rewatched my recording of beating one of the bosses and I was fumbling so bad, I could see my own desperation in the way I was playing.
Apparently there’s a secret phase for the final boss that I was more than happy to experience via YouTube. I was perfectly satisfied with just rolling the credits.
The Nightmare Typhon that has a timer? That sucks. I don’t remember having too much trouble in my first playthrough - I have memories of just hiding in a bathroom that it was too big to enter until the timer ran out for one of the encounters. But I can imagine that if you’re in a particularly bad area when it comes for you it could cause problems.
I don’t know if Prey is my favorite game of all time, but it’s on the short list. I can, however, say that it is the game that most fills me with awe. Talos 1 is an extraordinary playspace filled with incredible detail, choice, style, and diversity. The narrative, possibly the weakest element of the game, still packs in a lot of cool ideas and genuine surprises.
Prey also contains by far my favorite opening “level” of all time. Without spoiling, the immediate tonal shift, the creepy mystery, the complete recontextualization of your first 10 or 15 minutes, it’s an absolute spectacle.
In a perfect world, all these devs get absorbed by WolfEye Studios or something and they get a bunch of funding to make another massive masterpiece.
Via Kotaku:
Bloomberg previously reported that the vampire shooter’s [Arkane’s Redfall] troubled development grew out of a push by top Bethesda leadership to make a live-service game, a decision that ultimately led to sky-high attrition and multiple delays.
All reward, no risk for the executives demanding that their best-in-class immersive sim developer create an empty live service shooter. Stupid decision led to predictable outcome and the workers feel the ax for it.
Finished the main campaign in Midnight Suns. I maintain what I’ve said previously about the dialogue and characterizations bearing heavy MCU fanfic vibes. None of these versions of the characters qualify among my favorite iterations. But hot damn if it isn’t super well balanced, addicting, and fun to play. The 60 or so hours I spent on it went by like a breeze and I still dip in to raise my remaining friendship levels.
I tried out Sifu from PS Plus and am glad I hadn’t ever bought it. Seems like a super cool idea and good execution, but it felt a little like a fighting game with its button pressing combos (plus I hate combos where you have to flick the movement stick around). I also didn’t fancy the idea of having to worry about how old I was gettiing in the early levels and potentially have to play them over again just to lower my age for later level runs. Broke my threshold for punitive tedium.
Now I’m a few hours into Outward, and it’s promising so far. I’m loving the promise of the new stuff I can find and make, although I’m taking it super slow because the power dynamic is (intentionally) very intimidating.
Interesting. Uncharted territory!
May I ask what the appeal is to that over just the base game?
Thanks, he’s obsessed with Pokemon and has been glued to the game so far. I’m interested in checking them out myself and will try popping in as second player!
I remember hearing about that one, I’ll definitely check it out, thanks.
Hell yeah, that’s perfect! Kinda forgot that I did also have the original Gameboy, and Kirby’s Dreamland was almost certainly my favorite game on it.
Nice, this was totally off my radar but looks very promising, thanks!
TOTK is basically the same game but 1000x better
I hear ya, but I think that’s why I’d like to try them both, in order. More game, without tarnishing the experience of the first.
I’ve never particularly cared for Mario, but in retrospect it’s always felt somehow alien when I’ve tried playing them, like they all have this particular identity, and I’m not in its clique. Maybe I should actually sit down with one on my own and give it a solid try (rather than just sampling at someone else’s place).
Aw man, I forgot about Splatoon, and I think that would have been great but apparently there’s no splitscreen multiplayer. Good suggestion though!
The most recent detective game I played (if it qualifies as such for you) was Paradise Killer, which surprisingly I enjoyed quite a bit. Again though, the lore has close ties to the interpersonal relationships of all the characters on the island.
That’s cool. I do enjoy lore, but more in an “explain it to me on YouTube” kind of way than an “uncover it organically through gameplay” way. I need characters, acts, and arcs to be immediately engaged.
Same, though interested is an understatement. Prey is one of the greatest games I’ve ever played. I enjoyed Weird West, but it left me feeling more like a POC of what the studio wants to do than anything up to the actual standards of Arkane’s best.
If WolfEye fills the void of Arkane’s deplorable closure, they’ll get all the support I can give.