Oh heck, that really identified one of the things I’ve been finding disappointing about Phonopolis (which so far I kind of feel like might be their weakest I’ve played): there is a full on narrator throughout the game. And I don’t know why, because the game is fairly readable without it and I think the story would be way more compelling too
2 Likes
still trying Star Wars Outlaws. I have finally finished the tutorial (first planet) and am now onto the tutorial (rest of the game)
maybe I have gone too long without playing a AAA game but there’s an awful lot of going straight forward without much need for thinking. the best part so far has been the toybox areas of Imperial outposts & working out how to stealth takedown every stormtrooper in a bunker without being spotted. and failing, and blasting
there was a contract mission to pick up some traitor being guarded by another syndicate, they shout out once cornered, the guard bustle in through a darken doorway on the far side of the room, hours of trying to escape from troopers kick in and each gets two shots to the head as they cross the threshold. Kay still talks like a dumbass, every NPC you get jobs from is still “oh you didn’t eat shit? you must be less of a fuck-up than you made me think you were” “aw shucks, just doing my job”
there’s only one good outpost on the first planet, the other is too small. but at least its entrance is guarded by security lasers and an AT-ST, the other you can stand 46º to the side of the guards sightlines and walk through the front entrance without them seeing you. and for some reason it’s buggier, I raised an alert and troopers were barking they’d spotted me when I was in an underground vent. then tossing grenades at their squadmates on the other side of the map. fantastic. I think my console is overheating
I remember there was some faint praise here when it first came out, Felix enthralled by the visuals. the environmental art is stunning, the game is terrible
12 Likes
I’ve never been too interested in racing games but I got this one very cheap from a rental store and its aesthetics were enough to hold my interest.
This is the track that always comes to mind when I think about the game.
I especially liked playing with the fisheye mode turned on.
6 Likes
I must suffer yet another Next Fest, part 1 of who knows
Echoes of Aincrad: an executive at Bamco looking at the sales for Elden Ring and the sales trends of Sword Art Online games and going “what if SAO was Elden Ring?” with the same tone of Dan Olson burning the Nostalgia Critic
also you can dismember enemies, which I don’t think is legal to show in Japan and CERO is going to be very angry >:(
SiN Reloaded: yeah that’s fucking SiN
the demo includes a level from SiN and a level from Wages of SiN; I still haven’t played the latter and that expansion seems like it’s operating in the same level design mode as the same game (like, suspiciously so, like the bank map that opens the base game) so maybe I should grab the ol’ cat o’ nine tails and self-flagellate for however long it takes to beat. the level they pulled from SiN is… I don’t fucking remember this level at all? I played SiN. I remember a lot of the bullshit from that game, like the endless dam maps and the stupid “Blade got juiced into a mutant and has to do rat mazes” level but I don’t fucking remember this nuclear silo level at all
also I don’t recall there being a hitsound and if there was, I don’t think it sounded like someone spitting
I think I’m just disappointed that the demo wasn’t just like the original 98 demo that was the opening chopper gunner sequence (before chopper gunner sequences were cool!) into the bank level
7 Likes
for context, I played SiN while I was stuck at home with the rona so I was probably deep in fever
but I do remember trying to replay SiN Episodes and it soft locking/crashing like, 3 maps in and throwing my hands up and going “well I guess I don’t get to play the video game with all (two) the latex fetish models”
4 Likes
I am legally required to remind everyone that Sin Episodes is the game where if you land too many headshots, the video game goes “oh yeah?” and cranks the rank dial to 12
10 Likes
Kowloon’s Gate
Don’t really understand what’s going on most of the time (even with the english translation) but enjoying the experience regardless. I never realised this thing had actual JRPG style dungeons with random encounters, always assumed it was just an adventure game. Combat took a while to get my head around, at least it’s got a really good game over screen
Interesting system though, presenting your usual JRPG combat of elemental enemies that are weak to certain attacks as this taoist thing of maintaining balance, absorbing their essences as new attacks but trying to avoid overloading yourself with the full spectrum. Interesting push and pull of needing to sacrifice attacks at certain times to make space for others. I mean it’s just turn-based combat at the end of the day but at least it’s framed a bit differently. Mostly I just like the enemy designs
Also Boiler Man, BIG fan of Boiler Man
I said I didn’t really understand much of what was going on, but there are some interesting threads to pull at. Like this whole idea of people becoming so obsessed with certain objects that they eventually become them… and then you have these rumours of people meeting their twin in dreams, the idea of malice less as this individual desire and more as an occupying force infecting physical spaces and their inhabitants… There’s a lot to chew on!
Definitely a lot more mechanically dense than Planet Laika, which I guess is more fitting of its cluttered setting. It’s this constant back n forth of whooshing through the FMV streets chatting with merchants, jacking into a fire hydrant computer to check your email or stare at the teleshopping channel again before diving into a dungeon to battle with possessed objects and make small talk with your hired hand
While I’m not mad about the dungeon-crawling, it does at least provide some downtime to properly digest all the strange happenings, like witnessing a random guy literally melt before your eyes from being too online… I’m invested!
26 Likes
Playing some Landstalker on the porch tv.
I love the green maze episode. Cant believe I missed the teleporter tree side quest last time. Time to go find and talk to all the dogs. Im think im doing the witch adventure next? Just a perfect summer game.
Are there any good indy stalk-a-likes?
Best video game efl and fairy.
18 Likes
Melos Han-Tani’s latest, Angeline Era, has a few similarities in genre and tone.
5 Likes
Possible big caveat is bump combat. Also the ending goes…places.
2 Likes
Hrmm, I do love 2 bump
4 Likes
It’s good bump combat, but it’s a difference with Landstalker.
2 Likes
places one could look forward to going?
3 Likes
Oh yeah, it’s cool, but very different from Landstalker.
1 Like
Best video game elf and fairy.
YES this ^
1 Like
9.03m
An “empathy” game, I hate the idea behind this and find it tasteless and opportunist to be honest, but at least the developers donated proceeds to charity (only half at first, and then later 100%). So, perhaps more misguided than opportunist, but it still rubs me the wrong way.
LIL GATOR GAME
Takes the aesthetic of Wind Waker with some (heavily simplified) systems from Breath of the Wild, this is yet another “cozy” open-world game where the gameplay mostly consists of busy work and running repetitive errands.
This one gets away with it more than most thanks to a lot of charm and personality, through both the visuals and the writing, and the fact that moving around and exploring the world feels pretty good.
All the meta-jokes get pretty old, though… we get it, we’re playing a video game!
LIL GATOR GAME IN THE DARK
Yet more repetitive busy work with a “cozy” aesthetic, this time in a cavern system.
Feels even more samey than the base game due to all the quests following the same simple formulas as in the original, and the caves aren’t as fun to explore as the top of the island.
But like the base game, it gets away with it due to the charm of the writing and joy of movement… the latter being improved in this DLC due to all the fun new toys and equipment you get, such as a rocket pack, and even a web slinging ability.
If the people behind this made a game that actually worked all these abilities into the gameplay rather than them just being there to play around with, I think they could have something pretty special… as it is, it’s still a fun enough if extremely lightweight time… but hey, sometimes that’s what you need.
ALIEN FORCE
A slow, amateurish shareware clone of Targ for Windows 3.0. Fly a ship around a grid of squares, shooting enemies that increase in speed and aggression with each completed level. To make things more difficult, you can only have one bullet on screen at a time.
Weren’t many other options for Windows back in the day, but you know, you could just play DOS games instead.
HAVEN PARK
This is literally just A Short Hike but with added capitalism, since it’s about building campsites around an island for the purpose of luring people there who will then give you money for food services you set up.
Not as charming as Hike, and lacks the joy of movement, and world design isn’t nearly as good (the island feels very generic with an annoying lack of landmarks, but there are fun little oddities to discover like a talking well), but this isn’t a bad time.
It looks nice and plays well enough, has enough charm in the writing, and I enjoyed running around grabbing resources to make campsites all over the place, and the campsite building has juussttt enough flexibility to be interesting, though the lack of things you can build is a big weakness. It’s a bit like house designing in Animal Crossing, but with much, MUCH fewer options.
There are also some quests, some fun including a cute little CYOA book you read through… and a big dungeon area with Zelda like puzzles? That’s a side-quest? That was pretty funny.
A good game to turn your brain off to, but there’s nothing here that hasn’t been done much better elsewhere, and you’ll see all it has to offer in an hour… and in the end it feels a bit like a more cynical Short Hike, what with it adding so much more busy work.
16 Likes
Phone Saturn emulation. Panzer Dragoon Saga switches to Japanese VA from Gibberish after first opening video. Residenf Evil 1 VA is entirely American but with Japanese subtitles
2 Likes
Kane And Lynch 2 basically took the lesson of the last game which is the game is much better in man-made environments and lends itself to tight corridor shooting vs the jungle levels of the later part of the game. Every level is packed with detail, and I guess the IOI art team at the time was based out of Shanghai (due to the high cost of living in Denmark) so everything looks…fantastic. I played an entire level as a naked bleeding man.
10 Likes
what’s the idea behind the game that you hated so much
2 Likes
"The media is quick to put figures to death tolls in such disasters, and 9.03m tries to remind people of the individuals behind those figures. 9.03m is set on Baker Beach in San Francisco, where debris from the tsunami has washed ashore in the years following the tsunami. "
" It was made in memory of the victims whose lives were lost during the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tōhoku"
5 Likes