Worth noting is that I have finished Spacechem, so I am not unfamiliar with Zachtronics. While that game is probably still technically about programming its playfield containing physical things you could shape and drag around made it something much easier for me to understand. Here there is a whole layer of trying to grasp how all the commands fit together to accomplish something that is so far rather simple (the first real mission is literally to take a number and double it) and while perhaps not a ārealā programming language to the unfamiliar like myself it feels a lot like staring at the real thing.
I donāt plan on giving up though, mainly because Iām stubborn~
ā¦Iām also cheap and got this and Infinifactory in a bundle, hence why they would be the next games of theirs Iād try over the seemingly much more loved later ones.
The other reason Factorio is so good is because every other game in this genre is largely about hacking around fixed memory/space limitations ā a sort of 1950s type of programming skill. Whereas Factorio gives you an infinite randomly generated expanse and is about the greatest joy of programming ā elegant, reproducible abstractions built on top of one another to achieve scale
Itās P.T. by way of What Remains of Edith Finch (or the other way around), and it surpasses both. It is tremendously beautiful and absorbing. Please play it. I donāt want to say any more because my words are crass.
Please please please please please play this game it is so unbelievably good
Ah cool this is out now! If I hadnāt just started Divinity 2 I would probably be playing it. I will get around to it soon though.
Weirdly specific question though - did you play Detention? Something that kind of seemed off about that game was the way it began by presenting the threat of the game as a sort of supernatural thing. Even though at the end of the game this is revealed to be something more psychological and complex, a lot of the early portions of the game revolve around taking really typical aspects of religious practice in Taiwan - incense braziers, protective talismans, various mythological creatures and such - and presenting them in this really dark and macabre way.
I have mixed feelings about this, because on the one hand horror genre stuff in America has obviously gotten tons of mileage out of repurposing catholic imagery (etc) and exaggerating the sort of grisly aspects of this. I also canāt really blame the makers of the game, theyāre doing it with a Taiwanese audience in mind, and I think if you are already kind of familiar with the imagery it is a really effective and interesting spin on it. On the other hand, though, since these games are reaching a broader audience, Iām afraid audiences who arenāt familiar with the more mundane, real world presence of these things in daily life are going to end up reinforcing a lot of stereotypical views about supposedly āsuperstitiousā religious practice. In other words, presented to an audience that has centuries-old hang-ups about āIdolatryā I think this stuff actually ends up missing the mark and has the potential to make people think they are right in believing that āpagansā in Asia are just a bunch of demon worshippers or whatever
So the fact that this is a story about āa family shadowed by religious beliefā kind of gives me pause, because it feels like they are doubling down on presenting traditional religious practices that are more or less harmless (or, at least, are no more harmful than any other kind of religious practice, if we want to be edgy about it) as some kind of dark and twisted demon worshipping or something. I guessā¦ this ended up not really being a question, but if I had to be blunt - how is the religious angle of this game portrayed?
I havenāt played Detention but Iām going to next. I didnāt read your spoiler.
Regarding religious theme, a fictional occult deity serves as a plot element and the protagonist becomes convinced that violent sacrifice to it may be a solution to his problems (i.e. his daughterās problems, which I interpret as a rational reaction to the believable domestic circumstance sheās embroiled in), but the game gives enough context to suggest that the problem is with him (and itās textually explicit that his spiritual counselor is a sham misrepresenting the faith) and not any sane spiritual practice; you get to read texts of legends involving the deity and they are subdued enough that violent sacrifice would be a bad/literal reading undertaken by a desperate/sanity-challenged person, which the protagonist eventually becomes. The game is about parenting, not demonology, and the formative abuses inflicted within and upon the family are not principally religious, or at least I didnāt read it that way and the game didnāt strongly suggest such (it focuses much more on career/status pressure and raising an āidealā child in their own materialistic image).
Basically, I donāt think the game is fundamentally anti-religious, or at least itās got a lot more going on besides that. Itās a horror game so negative associations will be made and images will be exploited, but itās not dumb (aside from a handful of bogus āspectre quickly phases through you in a dark hallwayā jumpscares, but thereās more than enough imaginativeness elsewhere to make up for them). Iād totally be eager to hear other peopleās takes on it though if they play it.
Basically, the real story of Devotion is in how the family is constantly rearranging their furniture in each room (turn around after leaving a room and itāll be something new), and the individual significance of each object (a wardrobe, a vinyl player, a fish tank, and what else) to each of them. If you like rearranging furniture, Iām sure you will adore this game.
Final Fantasy XIII runs in 4K on xbox so i picked it up for $8 and decided to give it another shot. looks great! letās see how long i stick with itā¦
āFreeplayā mode is more campaignlike than it sounds though. There is a goal, launch a rocket, and you basically have a bunch of subpuzzles to solve to build up the tech tree and your throughput towards it, although you freely choose the order. I donāt really like pure sandbox either (e.g. Iām bored by Minecraft).
Iāve gone cold on Sunless Skies; theyāve tried to gate the game in a number of ways, presumably in order to make it less overwhelming at first, but itās had the effect of making it far more tedious, and the writing is missing something from the first one
Fac 
