Games You Played Today: 358 Threads Over 2

VastleCania · March 24, 2021, 3:36pm

I spent 8 hours over like, 2 weeks getting to the exact point wourme described above, but never beat the bull. Specifically, I had to beat the bull within about 3 minutes or the game would crash, and the whole thing made me so angry that I quit and never came back, even after patches likely fixed that issue. I could tell it was actually possible to do, which made it even worse!!

I think that 8 hours in a game for me is a lot, so hitting those two brick walls really made me frustrated. But one could definitely do 8 hours in two sittings, which is a hugely different experience! I just…don’t. I play games about an hour at a time, or less. It makes the investment seem bigger - I spent all my game time for the past two weeks playing this, only to be rejected for “not being good enough”, and it sucks!

I am also wondering about time and place though. I’ve been replaying games that previously made me angry or frustrated and I’m finding that I’m a lot more serene now. There’s no pressure on me to beat a game “because other people like it” or whatever - I just enjoy them until I stop enjoying them.

Like, I will likely never beat Dark Souls, but the last time I attempted I got much, much farther than ever before, and I quit when I stopped enjoying it without feeling some sort of shame or rage. (although, fuck that archer or whatever that kept killing me. Jesus.) Being able to see the weird, fucked up stuff you have to do in that game to proceed was well worth it, and I feel like I got 80% of the value* I can out of that game. That last 20% will probably never be worth it for me.

Although it was technically a new game for me, Shadow of War was much the same since I had such a bad experience with Shadow of Mordor 3-4 years ago. I was able to get past my frustrations with the systems/story, and enjoy the parts that I did like. And then as soon as I stopped enjoying it, I stopped playing it.

Getting older rules, y’all. Just sayin’.

I might revisit Sekiro now that I have some distance from my original experience.

*Value here meaning experiential or intellectual value, not some sort of money:hour ratio.

shnozlak · March 24, 2021, 3:49pm

Official Toplan rerelease of Zero Wing came in last night. I love it! The box and packadging from limited run is stunning. I just wish it wasnt limited…

Id never played the game before but what was suppose to be a quick peek before bed turned into an hour and a half. This game is really fun! Simple shootn but with a tractor beam mechanic that lets you throw enemies into each other or use them as a sheild. Not the most visually stunning, its a lot more static than a lot of genesis games but all the designs are really good. The infinite continues are really nice for someone like me who isnt a shooting ace. Its not just a meme, its a legit game.

boojiboy7 · March 24, 2021, 4:03pm

Limited Run getting all “only buy physical” about the PSN stores closing was pretty rich earlier this week, given that their whole business model is built on limiting people’s access to physical games.

Felix · March 24, 2021, 4:18pm

the bull and the drunkard (on the 2 routes you have up to then) are basically the end of the potentially extremely unpleasant beginning, from there on it’s smooth sailing.

VastleCania · March 24, 2021, 4:28pm

I beat the drunkard, but lady butterfly wrecked me in her second phase

DaleNixon · March 24, 2021, 4:29pm

Me revisiting RE6 rn and managing to have a good time.

Felix · March 24, 2021, 4:36pm

she was way more fun to me than the previous stuff had been, ditto the ashina staircase general, and I think it’s a combination of a few things leading to that, like them finally feeling free to complicate the encounter design a bit so that failure isn’t merely boring, and being less stingy with health etc. too.

Mikey · March 24, 2021, 8:55pm

Aer: Memories of Old is pretty, and brief. A few bits of its writing stand out but it’s mostly whatever. There are some impactful moments that are a bit melancholy but otherwise it’s a bit hard to actually care about the proceedings. Mechanically humdrum, ends on a complete anti-climax.

Oh an also almost all the music sounds like the hold music you hear before a keynote speech, once I realized that I couldn’t ignore it.

So yeah, overall I’d say give this one a pass unless you really want to play something chill and pretty that you don’t have any expectations for.

loki · March 24, 2021, 11:13pm

finally played the copy of love and destroy i bought like 2 years ago. it’s good! i died on the second stage though.

Rudie · March 24, 2021, 11:17pm

If it’s brief I may try it again. It’s a cool world but felt like the game was sky-gps.

Mikey · March 24, 2021, 11:45pm

I played through the whole thing (without really spending too much time looking for secrets or anything) in maybe about 4 hours.

Meanwhile I’ve started up Diaries of a Spaceport Janitor and… I really want to like it. I dig the vibe. I just think it’s simultaneously boring and stressful.

Rudie · March 24, 2021, 11:47pm

Everybodys getting stressed with the Janitor.

Broco · March 25, 2021, 1:17am

I especially liked Lucah’s loadout system where you can pair any 3 things together. I did a lot of messing around hitting the air in an empty room to try to find a loadout that’s range-balanced and also a method of chaining attacks that felt good, then went out and kicked butt with my self-taught techniques. It reminds me of trying out weapons in Bloodborne except there’s even more to it in Lucah.

stavekoff · March 25, 2021, 1:18am

that was an infuriating day

Broco · March 25, 2021, 1:40am

I got this vibe from Wilmot’s Warehouse too which is why I dropped it. Admittedly I didn’t give it much of a chance, but I really couldn’t see why I’d want to subject myself to this labor

Turns out games based on famously undesirable jobs in real life can fail in the predictable manner. (Except Papers Please, that game’s great)

Felix · March 25, 2021, 1:43am

wilmot’s shines in co-op imo because it’s just stressful enough that you get to bump into someone else’s organizational methods but not so stressful that you lose patience

Broco · March 25, 2021, 2:26am

It makes me think Wilmot’s gameplay is kinda contained in Stardew Valley coop where you need to agree on a chest setup with the other players to dump all your junk, on a daily time limit too. Mostly it’s not too hard to agree but once in a while it’s like “where did you put the desert warp totem I need to goooo”

vegetables · March 25, 2021, 2:35am

I’ve been wanting to give this a go again. I got as far as having to go into that cave area and I didn’t feel like doing that. I just wanted to go around and talk to people, but they kept giving me their trash.

la_ciel · March 25, 2021, 2:36am

hi i hit the delete button instead of the edit button by mistake so im reposting my post… the undelete button is broken btw

i played through lucah:born of a dream last night. it feels like the sanitarium art therapy class people go to when they die too young. i mean that as the highest compliment.

all of the mechanics and narrative devices are quotes. There’s souls-style bonfires and levelcraft and currency. There is platinum games combat w/ parrying and flashdodging and weapon swapping and copious hitstop. there are text-only scenes straight out of nier. There’s a ton of visual references to yume nikki. There’s a dragon quarter meter, even. it does the celeste thing of containing its own prototype as a minigame. hot-glued together with some very tasty buttonhit and good old fashioned catholic trauma. the writing and themes feel desperately adolescent in a way that is a little cloying at first but ends up working really well once you have a chance to buying into it. the way it sits inside this homonculus of specifically japanese melancholic action/RPGs makes it feel achingly personal, a piece built out of a personal language. i am a sucker for anything this intimate.

it’s also very much about suicidality so, uh, relatable content warning

also the Ultimate Weapon is flag colours

woudww · March 25, 2021, 3:42am

lucah is cool and i was kinda surprised not to see more discussion of it here. i only played up to the uhh… train level? iirc but ive been thinking abt going back