What are you currently playing?

[The Rogue Wolf]

So The Path Into the Abyss isn't scoring many points with me. About the only difference I've noticed from any other post-apocalyptic survival game is that the graffiti and enemy chatter are in Spanish instead of Ukrainian; the second mission had me cross the path of some sort of mutant that shrugged off the pipe shotgun and bolt-action pistol I started off with, and the third had me clear out a building of bandits with automatic weapons. (Fortunately for me, their AI was boneheaded; two of them detected me but couldn't figure out how to shoot me through a window, and the third- along with two more who somehow materialized out of thin air- were happy to stare at the ceiling.)

 

[meiam]

So I beat remnant 2 and its the most mid thing ever, nothing particularly wrong about it, but it really doesn't do anything special at the same time. Story barely exist. but what there is a just the tropes played straight, there's a couple of cool world building stuff here and there, but they're not explored (like this sci fi race that exist at the end of time is just used to justify why you fight zombie).

But its fine, if you see on good discount its a fun 20 hours or so.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Got Sonic Racing Crossworlds and an indie boomer shooter called 'Beyond Citadel' for Christmas so I'll probably be playing those while I'm waiting for my mobile game energy to recharge in Limbus Company.

Beyond Citadel bills itself as having 'realistic' firearms, which with energy weapons feels a bit like an oxymoron, but I think what they're trying to say is that you can't just point and shoot anything at any time without causing problems for yourself. That may sound annoying to some people, but I think Doom Eternal was a masterpiece, so I can probably handle it. What the store page doesn't mention, but the Steam reviews (and my friends) did, is that it's... well, maybe not the sort of thing you play with anyone else in the room, but it's not like I have a problem with that in principle unless it gets in the way of the game. And since it's Overwhelmingly Positive I don't think I have to worry about that.

As for Crossworlds, well, that needs no introduction. I played the demo and liked it well enough, and I've played the previous Sonic Racing games so I know they're legit.

 

[BrawlMan]

I did another round of Dancin Divas. I played as Hina this time. I had to use a continue at the last boss, but thankfully, the high score doesn't reset and there is no ranking system. I did unlock a cheat for double health, so I am using that for my next run. You still get in-game and Steam achievements, so that's a big plus for me.

 

[Worgen]

Beyond Citadel bills itself as having 'realistic' firearms, which with energy weapons feels a bit like an oxymoron, but I think what they're trying to say is that you can't just point and shoot anything at any time without causing problems for yourself. That may sound annoying to some people, but I think Doom Eternal was a masterpiece, so I can probably handle it. What the store page doesn't mention, but the Steam reviews (and my friends) did, is that it's... well, maybe not the sort of thing you play with anyone else in the room, but it's not like I have a problem with that in principle unless it gets in the way of the game. And since it's Overwhelmingly Positive I don't think I have to worry about that.

Normally I love boomer type shooters but beyond citadel just looks like someones weird fetish to me. Having blown apart anime girls dragging themselves round by their guts just seems a bit too... specific. If you want some good new boomer shooters try Mohrta, Cultic, Hedon, Herald of Havok, or Selaco.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Had to refund The Knightling- test too small, even after futzing with settings. I'm too old 'n' ornery to squint and get up and back down and all that.
(My PC is connected to a TV in a living room style situation so I am sitting at some distance. It's not been a problem with other games including those with subtitles and so I'm fairly confident my screen size / couch-to-screen distance ratios are reasonable).

Hopefully the do a Switch 2 port someday.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Story barely exist. but what there is a just the tropes played straight, there's a couple of cool world building stuff here and there, but they're not explored (like this sci fi race that exist at the end of time is just used to justify why you fight zombie).

Unfortunately this just carries on the tradition of the first game, as they went for quantity over quality (every time you "reroll an adventure", you can get a number of variations of the world, each with its own selection of characters and lore). I would've loved to go deeper into Losomn and what happened with the Pan, but no such luck.

 

[XsjadoBlaydette]

Jydge
This was only gonna be part of a 10tons (the dev name) re-sppreciation journey through their catalogue of indie twin-stick actions. But was concerned when, no matter what I tried, search results on the store always returned nothing. I know I bought the damn thing and now it's essentially saying it doesn't exist?? It didn't seem like a sort of game harbouring any content one would class as controversial or comprimised by copyright to get removed. Am I crazy enough to imagine buying and playing a load of game? Don't answer that. A Google search led to a curious answer. That the dev did remove it from stores, apparently after they said they received "a complaint" and elaborated no further, beyond a sort of promise they're working on a rerelease alternative at some point.

At least it's helpful in validating this fleeting sanity, while eliminating all but one way left to retrieve the game. But one complaint??? Are you serious lol. Now the compulsive side of me has switched to obsessively scanning for whatever hint remains in the game that one complaint was enough to get it disappeared/taken down quietly. What you hiding, 10tons lol

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Silksong speedrun continues. I'm not doing any crazy tech or glitches. You can shave a few seconds by bunnyhopping like a madman, speed up textboxes by switching over to Japanese and cut a few corners by taunting enemies and bouncing off them to reach higher platforms. Ain't doing any of that. I checked some regular folk guides and you can do the 5 hour speedrun in half the time or less so long as you focus on the critical path and access Act 2 via Sinner's Road. I can work with that.

So far it was 5 minutes to Bone Bottom, 10 to Silkspear, 17 to beat Bell Beast (wasted a few minutes getting half a spool and the Druid's Eye) and I'm making a cloud save at 19 after getting the first Silk Heart. It's crazy to think how much you can rush this game. I spent like 65 hours beating it 100% the first time, now at 19 minutes I'm supposedly like 1/7th done. But a lot of this is riding on me acing most bosses, which I'm definitely not gonna. Widow and Phantom are going to be a pain. And the High Halls combat room...

 

[BrawlMan]

Cronos: The New Dawn I will be playing later today. I have not played a new horror game since Silent Hill 2 Remake. Bloober's game. Yet now I am playing their recent new title. I am excited, and looks to be proper Dead Space style game than Callisto Protocol. Though it's clear the game is doing it's own thing.

 

[Worgen]

One of the games I grabbed during the steam sale was Starstruck Vagabond. You essentially play a space cargo hauler. Its got simple but charming pixel graphics, the gameplay is mostly keeping your ship running (reminds me of having a boat, something always needs attention). There are plenty of side activities like helping ships in distress, or looting derelicts, finding upgrade modules, etc. What really sets it apart is the writing and the characters you meet. I mean it is Yahtzee, he is a good writer, but I also wouldn't have expected him to write some of the characters you meet. The way you meet them very diegetic too, like you might just answer a distress signal or go top ship to repair an asteroid impact hit and boom, new character. Then you do a little series of quests for them and they tend to join. It flows pretty nicely. Really if there was anything I wanted expanded so far, it would be more clothing options. You get pants and a few different shirts and jackets... also ties or glasses.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Speedrun continues: beat Lace in 27 minutes, got the Cloak in 33, beat 4th Chorus in 35, made it to the Greymoor halfway house in 40. I aced Lace and Chorus and man are the bosses in this easy when your parting memory of the game is fighting Lost Lace 3 months ago.

It's hard to nail the exact time because there's no in-game clock and you can only look at the minutes on the save file, which I don't know if it rounds up or down (I'm assuming up).

I'm a few minutes behind the guide because I detoured slightly to get the Druid Eye in Mosshome and the Craft Metal in Deep Docks, though I think I also made up time by warping back via save & quit.

Also there really aren't that many bosses down the critical path? Moss Mother, Bell Beast, Lace, 4th Chorus, Moorwing (though you can skip him if you move the fleas to the arena first), Sister Splinter (also skippable if you do a fancy jump), Widow, Phantom, Cogwork Dancers, Lace again and GMS. Out of like 40 or 50 bosses.

EDIT: Beat Moorwing and made it to Bellhart, 49 minutes. Detoured again a few minutes to get the Reaper crest. This is more fun than I thought it would be! Even fighting Moorwing wasn't as hard I remembered, and I'd only ever fought him before much later in the game after a slew of upgrades.

 

[meiam]

One of the games I grabbed during the steam sale was Starstruck Vagabond. You essentially play a space cargo hauler. Its got simple but charming pixel graphics, the gameplay is mostly keeping your ship running (reminds me of having a boat, something always needs attention). There are plenty of side activities like helping ships in distress, or looting derelicts, finding upgrade modules, etc. What really sets it apart is the writing and the characters you meet. I mean it is Yahtzee, he is a good writer, but I also wouldn't have expected him to write some of the characters you meet. The way you meet them very diegetic too, like you might just answer a distress signal or go top ship to repair an asteroid impact hit and boom, new character. Then you do a little series of quests for them and they tend to join. It flows pretty nicely. Really if there was anything I wanted expanded so far, it would be more clothing options. You get pants and a few different shirts and jackets... also ties or glasses.

Oh wow, just visual alone I wouldn't have expected Yathzee to be involved, got thing you pointed it out cause I saw it and immediately ignored it a few days ago because of the visual.

 

[Worgen]

Oh wow, just visual alone I wouldn't have expected Yathzee to be involved, got thing you pointed it out cause I saw it and immediately ignored it a few days ago because of the visual.

He wasn't just involved, he pretty much just made it himself.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

Cronos: The New Dawn I will be playing later today. I have not played a new horror game since Silent Hill 2 Remake. Bloober's game. Yet now I am playing their recent new title. I am excited, and looks to be proper Dead Space style game than Callisto Protocol. Though it's clear the game is doing it's own thing.

I’m surprised Bloober Team was large enough to be developing this in tandem with SH2. Apparently it started back in 2021.

 

[BrawlMan]

I’m surprised Bloober Team was large enough to be developing this in tandem with SH2. Apparently it started back in 2021.

Pretty much, yes. After they're finished supporting this game and adding an Easy Mode next year, they're going to work on Silent Hill 1 Remake. I am looking forward to it. The people there are talented, flexible, and know what they're doing.

I got Hellblade for cheap by trading in No More Heroes III (Switch). The game is fun so far. I get what Ninja Theory was going for and respect it. There is a free PS5 upgrade for those who kept their physical copy, but I want to save the hard drive space, so I am sticking with PS4 version.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Beat Cogwork Dancers 1 hour 50 minutes. So far so breezy. Aced Sister Splinter, Widow took me 3 tries, Phantom 2. Made it to Act 2 in 1 hour 36 minutes so I relax at this point.

I think the 30 hour, 100% run is going to be a bigger chore because it requires so much farming to actually buy all the stuff you need. Grinding beads and shards and dealing with the world economy was one of my grievances with the game and it's been a pleasure to speed past all that and not have to deal with any of it.

EDIT: 45 minutes later beat Trobbio, got Clawline and two out of the three melodies. So little over halfway through the 5 hour limit and all I really have left to do is go through the High Halls gauntlet to get the third melody, then beat Lace and GMS. The bosses are easy but HH is where speeding past everything and not cultivating much of a loadout is probably gonna catch up to me. Guess I have more than enough time to go go pick up some extra stuff, not like I'm trying to set a world record.

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

So I've finally finished Routine and Jesus fucking Christ we waited thirteen years for this? It's been a long time since a game's ending has disappointed me this much. It throws in some religious allegories at the last minute- the secondary monster was female, and died attempting to eat an apple for some reason, and the primary monster is its offspring- and then tries to pull some sort of 2001: A Space Odyssey style of ending, but just absolutely flops.

 

[BrawlMan]

So I've finally finished Routine and Jesus fucking Christ we waited thirteen years for this? I

I didn't even know the game was in development for that long, and only knew about said game a few weeks ago. Dodge a huge bullet there.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Made it to the High Halls gauntlet in 2 hours 45 minutes. Got to the final wave on my first try, died, then of course sucked a bit more with every new attempt, so I used a backup save and took 10 minutes to go collect stuff just to get a sense of progress. Extended the silk spool for the first time ever, got a useless mask shard, bought a memory locket and a bunch of tools/upgraded their capacity. They really ended up making the difference against the last two fellas.

Currently 3 hours 10 minutes, all I got left to do is beat Lace and GMS. I'm one hour behind the guide I've been using but it really doesn't matter at this point.

EDIT: Spent another 10 minutes on getting two more mask shards to get one more HP. Beat Lace and arrived at the final bench, 3 hours 25 minutes.