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[NerfedFalcon]

Also Recommend getting Monkey Island 2: Lechucks Revenge. It pairs nicely with SoMI and the new MI game is going to be a sequel to MI2(it's a bit darker and more cartoony though) directly rather any of the games that came after it. Expecially since Both games are honestly kinda short and it's only some of the really wierd puzzles that make it last any length of time.

I don't want to spoil too much, but considering the way that Monkey Island 2 ends, I'm not sure it's possible to have a sequel that doesn't do what Curse (my favorite of the series BTW) did and say 'okay, that was all a dream, let's move on'.

Slightly related, want to recommend The Curse of Monkey Island as well. It's not perfect, but it's got some great characters and some really interesting puzzles, and I remember hearing that the change in the art style was controversial at the time but I really like the way it looks, think it holds up better than the old pixel art. It was also the first game in the series to have full voice acting, which it knocked out of the park IMO.

 

[Dalisclock]

I don't want to spoil too much, but considering the way that Monkey Island 2 ends, I'm not sure it's possible to have a sequel that doesn't do what Curse (my favorite of the series BTW) did and say 'okay, that was all a dream, let's move on'.

Slightly related, want to recommend The Curse of Monkey Island as well. It's not perfect, but it's got some great characters and some really interesting puzzles, and I remember hearing that the change in the art style was controversial at the time but I really like the way it looks, think it holds up better than the old pixel art. It was also the first game in the series to have full voice acting, which it knocked out of the park IMO.

I think the big issue is not so much what Curse did but rather it wasn't Ron Gilberts idea for the sequel because he ended up leaving LA before Curse was made. So I agree, Curse is a lot of fun and also worth checking out, apparently Ron's MI3 would have been something different and that's what I'm interested in seeing. I'm not sure anyone really knew this at the time though. I know at some point Ron Gilbert did come out and say his idea for how to follow up the end of MI2 was something different then Curse, but he wasn't gonna say what unless he could actually make it.

So I'm not expecting some kind of grand revelation or anything, because it's not like MI was ever about grand mysteries and such. I just want to see what the "intended" follow on was supposed to be and hopefully get a good game in the process.

My only gripe with Curse is that the last two chapters are hella rushed, especially compared to the rest of the game.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

My only gripe with Curse is that the last two chapters are hella rushed, especially compared to the rest of the game.

You're not wrong, but I still thought they had some pretty good moments and one really interesting puzzle.

 

[Chupathingy]

Been playing Sheep, Dog 'n' Wolf for PS1 for the first time.

I'm not usually into puzzle games, and I wasn't a big fan of the few puzzle/platformer games I've played, but this one is really hooking me in. Outside of the wonky platforming and shitty hacking minigame, the levels are well designed, the puzzles are fun to figure out and haven't been too obtuse, the art style's great, and the game makes good use of its source material. It's nice to see really minor Looney Tunes characters have a chance in the spotlight.

 

[BrawlMan]

Devil May Cry HD Collection (PS4) - I played some of 1 and 3 for old times, and just for fun.

 

[BrawlMan]

Did some more Mad World. The game does get repetitive in some regards, but Platinum does enough for each level to keep them unique and varied. From enemy types and each new area having a different mini boss. The last level really only suffers as there is not much different and there is not as many open areas. I do love the elevator section before you reach the final boss. It ain't a beat'em up, unless you have an elevator or life of some kind.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Love Flute

Yet another great story from Talesshop. They keep managing to make unique stories that suck me in every time with their characters and scenarios.

I think this VN also crystalized in my mind why I really don't like "true ending"s. There are three endings to this VN and I gained access to all three of them and first saw the True Ending and while it certainly felt like a "this is how it should end" for what most would consider healthy, it just felt so... impersonal, almost nihilistic maybe? I much proffered the Good Ending as it is called, not just because our hero and heroine intend to spend a long time together, but because it felt personal and unique. I like seeing people carve out their own little slice of life or happiness, even if it isn't what is considered normal or correct. It's just so much more compelling to me.

It's why I really don't like VNs with what is called a ladder structure like Steins;Gate or The Devil on G String. It makes it so when you make a choice to see the outcome of going down a certain path feel like a dead end since the story is designed in such a way that only by progressing to the very top of the ladder will you fully understand what's going on and also get what is considered the canon ending. I like things to be unique, personal, selfish, dear to your heart.

And this isn't just in regards to VNs, video-games that sell themselves on having "choices that matter" need to actually make choices that matter by rethinking how we do that. We're stuck in an incredibly arbitrary cage of defining choices as being white or black (That doesn't mean you choose between white or black though, games where both choices are black or white are an issue too) when we should be defining them as a rainbow of potential possibilities like choices are in real life. There are all kinds of axes we base our choices on every day and just going with one and having that be what defines the entire game has gotten old.

Ironically, now that I think on it a bit, I think the Galaxy Angel series from waaaay back in the early 2000's got this more right than anyone else I've seen (Not that others haven't gotten it right, just I haven't played the games I've heard do this right). In those games sometimes a choice would be an obviously correct one that just had pure benefits but other times you'd want to pick one for efficiency with how it would improve the moral of some team members that you hadn't given attention to so they would perform better in combat, while others would have a negative effect on some team members but a positive one on others. Like I said before, a rainbow of choices is needed if we want player choice to mean something and the industry has slept on improving this for too long.

Anyway, don't mind me, just Specter rambling with a stream of consciousness again.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Games really should place dialogue on the center channel no matter where the character you're communicating with is standing. It's awkward having their voice go from speaker to speaker as you spin the camera. Filmmakers understand this. Why not the video game developers who so often try to ape movies? Something that occurred to me while playing Sekiro.

I kinda disagree based on the issue of spatial awareness being more important in games. For instance a horror game should differentiate between environmental cues like screams or whispers in dark environments or something that’s meant to alert the player to an NPC/enemy location, vs normal dialog.

Even with film it’d make more sense to have a person speaking behind you not sound like they’re directly in front, but film generally doesn’t have this problem because actors are almost always front and center. Otherwise I don’t see why dialog couldn’t be given the same treatment with competent sound mixing if a scene ever called for it.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Kind of got the urge to play Dark Souls again. I kind of wanted to try different playstyles so I decided a dex build pyromancer. The problem with using different weapons is that the upgrade system really disincentivizes experimenting with weapons. I kind of wanted to use a Great Scythe, but it's kind of far in the game meaning I can either upgrade a weapon I won't use or just fight with unupgraded weapons, both options kind of suck. Anyway, I went and rang the first bell of awakening in a couple of hours, now because I'm a pyromancer I can't skip the depths because I want to buy pyromancies from that guy. So I need to fight the Capra Demon. After trying that about 5 times I'm thinking I don't really need to replay Dark Souls again.

It's kind of funny, I've rang the first bell of awakening around 6 or 7 times, but I think I've only beaten the game twice, maybe 3 times.

 

[Hawki]

So let's see...

Xenoblade Chronicles 2

I hate this game. That's not to say it's bad, but it's a downgrade from XC1 in every regard, from gameplay to story. I don't have time to really go into details, but, I'll let you in on a little secret.

By my estimate, XC1 took me about 100 hours to complete. If I skipped side quests, maybe that would be down to 80 hours. If we assume that I can beat XC2 in the same amount of time, I'm looking at...75hrs.

Seventy. Five. Hours.

Fuck!

World of Warcraft

So as you know (or don't), I started playing WoW Classic out of obligation, but my human warrior's in a rut. I'm broke, most of my armour is destroyed, and I really don't have it in me to grind to get enough coin to repair it, only to be faced with the fact that the server is sparse, time zones are a *****, and I'm surrounded by nigh-insurmountable tasks to complete unless I somehow get people to team up with (which I did, once), or grind my arse off.

So I've started an orc warrior.

Killing boars. And scorpids.

Yay...

 

[BrawlMan]

Killing boars.

​

 

[Drathnoxis]

​

That was one of my favorite episodes of South Park.

 

[BrawlMan]

I did some fun runs for DmC and DMC5. Funny enough, I unintentionally did a No Damage Run, all S scores, of Mission 2 on Son of Sparda difficulty in 5. I already accomplished that on Dante Must Die, but I am more than happy to take that reward.

 

[meiam]

So gundam evolution was having a close-ish beta that I tried. You might be thinking "Oh that gundam overwatch clone" and I wish that was true. Sadly it's nowhere near as well crafted. The various mech from the gundam universe don't really lend themselves well to the various role of overwatch, so you have one suit that sorta tankish, except terrible at it it and the only healer is so slow at healing that its faster for people to just run for a health pickup. On top of that everything is really squishy fast and glass cannon, so you're constantly getting one shoot by sniper or melee unit which can just drop down out of nowhere, stun you and then kill you before you have a chance of moving. Overwatch avoid that problem because characters and levels are built really well to get rando to work together naturally, but here there's nothing like that.

So overall its not overwatch enough to be worth playing but also doesn't really carve out its own interesting niche that would take advantages of the franchise.

Bandai has been pushing pretty hard for gundam game lately (ironically their releasing more game than anime these days) but they're almost all terrible, it's kinda like what's happening with warhammer, just flooding the market and hoping a few of them will be good.

 

[wings012]

Started playing some Project Wingman. I kinda like it, but it also kinda annoys me a little. I think the devs got a bit too carried away with the number of enemies you have to take out per level, though they also compensate by giving you a stupid amount of ammunition and the ability to have up to 3 SP weapons per plane.

It's like a somewhat less polished Ace Combat but kinda on steroids in the number of enemies it throws at you. There's also more ridiculous enemies a lot sooner. There's like sky cruisers on the 2nd level, and there's ships with railguns lighting the place up on the 3rd or 4th level. Even the most basic plane has 100+ missiles.

It's kinda fun but also tiring to play. And well, no checkpoints can lead to some rather frustrating moments. I also feel like bullet speed is too low, you end up having to lead your targets by a stupid amount when using guns.

 

[Agema]

Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness

Indie fantasy party-based RPG in classic isometric view. I appreciate the team's hard work and obvious love for that type of game to produce their debut work, but it's not great. It's a very ordinary, ho hum adventure with ho-hum mechanics and ho-hum characters. If you like this sort of game, go for it, it's satisfactory. But don't expect your world to be set on fire.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Kind of got the urge to play Dark Souls again. I kind of wanted to try different playstyles so I decided a dex build pyromancer. The problem with using different weapons is that the upgrade system really disincentivizes experimenting with weapons. I kind of wanted to use a Great Scythe, but it's kind of far in the game meaning I can either upgrade a weapon I won't use or just fight with unupgraded weapons, both options kind of suck. Anyway, I went and rang the first bell of awakening in a couple of hours, now because I'm a pyromancer I can't skip the depths because I want to buy pyromancies from that guy. So I need to fight the Capra Demon. After trying that about 5 times I'm thinking I don't really need to replay Dark Souls again.

It's kind of funny, I've rang the first bell of awakening around 6 or 7 times, but I think I've only beaten the game twice, maybe 3 times.

Part of what made my recent play-through of Demons Souls was playing an older From game while Elden Ring is out there in the forefront of games media. A fun bit of synergy.

Yeah the "build" nature of Dark Souls is one thing that people love and I don't because of how hard it is to switch and easy to screw up. I just don't see the positive side of that mechanic, except I guess taking pride in planning out a build and patiently working towards it and, I guess, using it in NG+ or PVP.
A lot of veteran Souls players disliked Sekiro because it's just a dude with a sword, no customization. I freaking LOVE Sekiro for that exact reason.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Part of what made my recent play-through of Demons Souls was playing an older From game while Elden Ring is out there in the forefront of games media. A fun bit of synergy.

Yeah the "build" nature of Dark Souls is one thing that people love and I don't because of how hard it is to switch and easy to screw up. I just don't see the positive side of that mechanic, except I guess taking pride in planning out a build and patiently working towards it and, I guess, using it in NG+ or PVP.
A lot of veteran Souls players disliked Sekiro because it's just a dude with a sword, no customization. I freaking LOVE Sekiro for that exact reason.

Reminds me of playing Devil Survivor and finding that the best strategy to beat the final boss involves stating out the MC in a complete glass cannon build but it's the end of the game and you can't restat so...

 

[sXeth]

Kind of bonking around in Warframe. Mostly on a holding pattern. I did make the basically impossible to even consider Int/Faith necromancer build in Elden Ring but eh.... thats a long slog to commit too.


Warframes next expansion (Angels of Zariman), Deep Rock Galactics second season, Salt and Sacrifice all looming on the horizon but nothing out just yet


Pondering going into Monster Hunter World to clear out the last couple of added things, but my save file got wiped with my original PS4 dying. So I'd have to crawl all the way up (maybe learn a new weapon if I do)

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Kind of got the urge to play Dark Souls again. I kind of wanted to try different playstyles so I decided a dex build pyromancer. The problem with using different weapons is that the upgrade system really disincentivizes experimenting with weapons. I kind of wanted to use a Great Scythe, but it's kind of far in the game meaning I can either upgrade a weapon I won't use or just fight with unupgraded weapons, both options kind of suck. Anyway, I went and rang the first bell of awakening in a couple of hours, now because I'm a pyromancer I can't skip the depths because I want to buy pyromancies from that guy. So I need to fight the Capra Demon. After trying that about 5 times I'm thinking I don't really need to replay Dark Souls again.

It's kind of funny, I've rang the first bell of awakening around 6 or 7 times, but I think I've only beaten the game twice, maybe 3 times.

It’s an investment to be sure. Full disclosure: as much as I enjoy these games I’ve only ever completed any of them with a single NG file. I mean, it would be different if A. I had more free time and B. no backlog but as it is, one thorough playthrough is enough for me. NG+ when I used to hunt trophies but I’ve gotten away from that lately.


On topic and speaking of, going through Weeping Peninsula in ER more thoroughly. I currently have a Lordsworn SS with Bleed ashes +15 and a Ice Rind Hatchet +5. Before upgrading much I’d also been using the Meteorite staff here and there on bosses when melee wasn’t cutting it, but now most stuff is falling so easily that it’s fun going back to old places and stomping fools while hunting for more gear.

It’s always tough trying to branch out into different stats when I’ve always played mostly quality builds in past games, but I’m still planning on making something of magic at some point. The thing is I’ve mostly been finding awesome beastly looking great weapons and am left thinking maybe I should dump more into STR. I have VIT, DEX and INT all in the 20’s, with STR lagging behind a bit. What the hell, might as well just aim for quality with a couple good spells as backup whenever the opposition calls for it.