What [not shmup] game are you playing now?

[Lander]

Played through Thief Gold after a new PC set-up, to finally fill gaps and empty troves (and lose an eye). Leaving computer play behind when the Dark Project was new, and focusing instead on consoles was never a deed I would regret. So coming in decades later it was a trifle daunting, and I am not ashamed to tell that I used a few pointers and some help on the way, since I feel still very clumsy with the whole keyboard as a means to input.

Sounds like Mission 06: Thieves' Guild to me or perhaps the elemental mage towers - Gold's extra missions are a bit rough. A curse upon whoever hid that damn bracelet in the fireplace without leaving any hints.

Brilliant game, sublime level design. In constant contention with 2 for my favourite - Dark Project has higher highs and lower lows ("oh no, not another monster level" - though all part of the charm in retrospect), but Metal Age is end-to-end quality.

I find the original chaotic in a deeper sense, since it tells how the pagan tribe gets created. The final mission: DESCENT INT0 MADNESS is a pleasing climax: evading those ascending super-freaks on track to the topsy world, while we are descending into the heart of Woodness (and learn where teething creatures are coming from).

I've seen folk hate on the final boss, but I thought it was one of the most thematically-satisfying encounters in any game. The Pagan treatment in general is great in those first titles; the foolsy humes in city walls, we bringsie forth the woodsy lord poetry between missions is creepy fey tone-setting perfection that makes the whole thing feel like a well-spun tale.

Not quite so prominent once Droopy kicks off his industrial revolution, but Metal Age knows not to squander a good thing.

In tandem played with Deadly Shadows, that one on XboX for those special loading times, and without any points and helpers, it was all smooth sneak.

...

That leaves the Deadly Shadows as the Keeper part, giving the surprising ending. The Cradle being creepy standout, I found it to be more of a broader appeal and it is appreciated.

I wasn't quite so much for 3's gameplay - the PC version has a Sneaky Upgrade mod that retrofits some of the classic design niceties, but the core is too drastically changed to fully fix things like the oversimplified map screen, not-Goldeneye objective system, and clunky new locomotion.

Its ambition is its undoing, I think - ideas like freeform hub sneaking and more immersive interaction are good, but were too big to coalesce properly without taking away from the existing design.

Though thematically it was good - shame to lose the interstitial animatics, but the story was well-told, and the ending a delicious surprise. Cradle too, a marathon of gritting it out in the face of old school survival horror - every time I think I'm out, it pulls me back in!

Call me taffy, I just received the mostly reviled Thief: The Re-loot, and I will definitely play it! No, try not to black-jack me for the best, I already know the risk involved!

*lowers arm* are you sure? Future NYN might regret not having been given amnesia and / or other horrifying complications arising from medieval treatment of concussive head injury

And well, it's a fine enough stealth game if properly braced for AAA tropes of the 7th gen. Unfortunately, you're already in too deep: Knowing how Deadly Shadows ends equips you to recognize all the tragic pieces that were going to be a proper Thi4f sequel before the studio flinched and swerved into reboot. And you have to put up with Gary, since they didn't get Stephen Russell back to voice a proper Garrett.

When you're done, I suggest a bit of Thief: The Black Parade and/or The Dark Mod to wash down the sadness. TBP is just incredible as a passion project gaiden successor to 1 and 2, and TDM is a technological leap with some really good missions if you research around its forums and pick out well-lauded ones.

[Sima Tuna]

Thief's world is absolutely sublime. You could translate it into conventional fiction and it would still hold up on atmosphere, I think. Many video games are criticized on the grounds that they lack literary depth. Thief is a good example of a story that could work in any medium, assuming the same minds behind the game were to have made a book or film instead. It has that combination of grime, grit and humor you find in the best short fantasy.

Of course, Thief is even better because it has a compelling gameplay loop on top of its world, characters and story.

[NYN]

Sounds like Mission 06: Thieves' Guild to me or perhaps the elemental mage towers - Gold's extra missions are a bit rough.

Yes, these two. And I got lost in The Lost City.

I wasn't quite so much for 3's gameplay - and clunky new locomotion.

Overall or particular? Are black-jacked taffer supposed to fold like that? I tell myself varying things as explanation...I reject the 3rd person option simply for the animation. That's not how I picture the master thiefer to move! The profound ways of one's own imagination, etc. Playing the Re-loot, gosh, is it heavy in fps perspective, a regular Call of Garret. I can't help it, I just enjoy how the hands grope for things: candles, cups, drawers, and more. And the swoop! That's fun so far.

[Lander]

Thief's world is absolutely sublime. You could translate it into conventional fiction and it would still hold up on atmosphere, I think. Many video games are criticized on the grounds that they lack literary depth. Thief is a good example of a story that could work in any medium, assuming the same minds behind the game were to have made a book or film instead. It has that combination of grime, grit and humor you find in the best short fantasy.

Of course, Thief is even better because it has a compelling gameplay loop on top of its world, characters and story.

For sure - I'd go far as putting it somewhere near (though not next to; hard to beat a dedicated masterpiece at its own game) Planescape for world building and writing quality.
And some of the best parts are when the gameplay and writing intermingle, like having a simple in-and-out quickly derail into this wasn't in the objectives pursuit intrigue.

Overall or particular? Are black-jacked taffer supposed to fold like that? I tell myself varying things as explanation...I reject the 3rd person option simply for the animation. That's not how I picture the master thiefer to move! The profound ways of one's own imagination, etc. Playing the Re-loot, gosh, is it heavy in fps perspective, a regular Call of Garret. I can't help it, I just enjoy how the hands grope for things: candles, cups, drawers, and more. And the swoop! That's fun so far.

Both, I suppose - in general it's more complex than the Dark Engine games, which were a simple classic 'sliding capsule' FPS setup with little to no ambiguity; Dark Project even has the old "Carmack's Mistake" strafejump speed exploit, so you can turbo-burgle! Though that was (sadly) fixed in Metal Age, alongside the blackjack's ability to insta-KO based on facing rather than awareness.
(Though I might have that last point backwards - it's been a minute since I tried to apply Dark Souls backstab strats in a stealth game )

In specific, I recall the lean controls in TDS being much more awkward than the original's camera tilt, and visibility a lot more ambiguous thanks to the newly-rendered body. It might have been specific to PC - or perhaps even Sneaky Upgrade's fiddling - but there were also several times in my playthrough where Garrett's model simply froze, turning it into an odd and mangled version of the aforementioned 'sliding capsule' movement where none of the environmental interactions would work, forcing either a reload or some non-guaranteed creative wiggling to wake it back up. Muh immersion!

The climbing gloves were a neat idea, interesting alternative to requiring a wood ceiling or special all-access arrow to move vertically, but they come too late to justify totally replacing the original tools.

Playing the Re-loot, gosh, is it heavy in fps perspective, a regular Call of Garret. I can't help it, I just enjoy how the hands grope for things: candles, cups, drawers, and more. And the swoop! That's fun so far.

The grabby hands and generous amount of side houses to break into along the linear paths are nice touches. I'm a bit hum-ha on the swoop; it's a good-feeling mechanic, but erodes some of the classic bullet-sweating tension of nipping into a dim corner and praying the patrolling guard / crustacean monstrosity / THE_WILL_OF_KARRAS-bot doesn't spot you.

And I just don't like the idea of Garrett having magic-like powers. Explicit mortality was always a defining strength of character; continually betting his skin on a minmaxed cunning stat in spite of the fantastical setting, rather than having the unfair advantage be built-in.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Update: Dredge quickly moved from "this is cool/novel/chill" to a complete pain in the ass

I hope this length metric/obsession for video games finally fucking dies while I'm still breathing.

"Man, this book is $10 for 150 pages, while this other book is $10 for 300 pages. The latter is obviously the better choice. I mean, it's twice as long!"

-a complete idiot (except if you replace 'book' with 'video game' then it's a real savvy consumer)

[Sima Tuna]

Heh, makes me think of my current obsession with Clark Ashton Smith, who wrote almost nothing except short fiction and poetry. My favorite of his stories is... Maybe 40 pages long? It's called The Dark Eidolon. Then you have other favorite authors of mine, such as Harry Harrison, H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard and Jack Vance. Vance has some longer stuff but the first three were almost entirely within the realm of short fiction or novella.

A short story doesn't mean it takes a short time to fully absorb what you have read. A well-made short game can be the same way too.

But I understand why consoomers equate length with value. Length is the only objective metric they can use to compare against their monetary expenditure. If Story A is 40 pages and Story B is 400 pages, and both stories cost the same or approximate amount of money, many people would actually argue that the 400 page book is a better value.

Like the difference between buying a single or a full album. "The full album has so many more songs." Yeah but maybe the single song is better than anything on that full album. Hard to say. (Music also benefits from some universal pricing on digital storefronts, so the comparison isn't fully true anymore. That said, I HAVE purchased singles because they weren't available anywhere else.)

[m.sniffles.esq]

Heh, makes me think of my current obsession with Clark Ashton Smith, who wrote almost nothing except short fiction and poetry. My favorite of his stories is... Maybe 40 pages long? It's called The Dark Eidolon. Then you have other favorite authors of mine, such as Harry Harrison, H.P. Lovecraft,

Since Dredge is very Lovecraftian (I italicized but Webster's informs me it is indeed a word now) I began to wonder during the stretches of pushing the stick in one direction for three full minutes what Howie would think of

"The man reached the western edge of the map, but the impasse was blocked. He would need explosives from the man on the eastern edge of the map *eight pages of sailing* He reached the eastern edge of the map, but the explosive maker had no black powder which was only available from the merchant on the northern edge of the map. *six pages of sailing* The man found the merchant's shop closed, as the merchant's wife was ill. Perhaps if the man could catch five specific fish then take the to the pharmacist on the southern edge of the map, the mechant's wife would recover and he could open for business again..."

-----------

PSA (that has nothing to do with the above): I noticed that the console digital storefronts are all currently running 'Blakk Friday' or whatever sales. As part of these, I noticed MAD MAX is $5. While it's not a perfect game, and has many tell-tale signs of being kicked out the door, it is also a STUPID amount of fun and WELL worth $5

[Lander]

I background-watched a streamer play through Dredge the other week. Seemed like a novel little game, though any latent boredom was probably lost on me due to treating it like radio - I think you can find a madness-brand fast travel power somewhere to cut down on repetitive sailing.

Odd intersection, the low-friction comfy genre with creeping elder horror. Though on paper the lack of mechanical immediacy has a ton of potential for baking in subversive scares; I was expecting to see stuff like abusing the top-down -> behind-boat camera transition to show some thing observing you from the middle distance, or nighttime lightning flashes briefly revealing the towering silhouette of Dagon in the skybox. As-is, the insanity fog and occasional monster ram seem like they could wear kind of thin.

There's prior work in the Fishing Horror genre too, like A Wonderful Day For Fishing and Earl's Day Off, as well as some other first-person 3D titles that I'm having trouble tracking down. Generally short itch.io releases - brief but very effective.

[Daytime Waitress]

There's prior work in the Fishing Horror genre too, like A Wonderful Day For Fishing and Earl's Day Off, as well as some other first-person 3D titles that I'm having trouble tracking down. Generally short itch.io releases - brief but very effective.

Mysteries Under Lake Ophelia fits the bill, too: faux-PSX-era walk 'n explore with item management and lurking fear.

I guess something about spending all day overlooking an intractable body of water with your pole in hand lends itself to the contemplation of existential dread?

Heh, makes me think of my current obsession with Clark Ashton Smith,

Currently doing my first proper run of Dark Souls, and spiraling down through Deeproot towards the lake instantly recalled The Dweller in the Gulf. Definitely got the hackles up.

[m.sniffles.esq]

I think you can find a madness-brand fast travel power somewhere to cut down on repetitive sailing.

You can fast-travel to one location in the center-ish part of the map, so you can reduce the back-and-forth. But since it's there to obviously pad length, they don't want it eliminated completely (something tells me a whole lot a fast-travel points will be unlocked towards endgame as usually these affairs will milk it, but stop short of completely trying the player's patience)

Full disclosure: I was never a Zelda fan, and once that game started pulling the above shit (which wasn't too long into it iirc) I said "this is fucking annoying" and started playing Blades of Steel, or Gradius, or something equally awesome instead. So those padding techniques hold no 'old-school' nostalgia warm-fuzzies for me.

But as I said, the game is pretty neat and novel up until it just starts blatantly wasting time. And really, if I wanted to spend my commute doing nothing but experiencing straight-line travel for ten minutes, I could just look out the fucking window.

[To Far Away Times]

I finished up Dragon Age The Veilguard today.

A decent game, but not really all that it could or should be.

First, it does do a lot right that other AAA big budget games do wrong including: no EA launcher, no micro transactions, it's well polished and QA tested, it has a million options you can tweak in the settings menu, and it also has buttery smooth performance. The combat is also very good for this type of game. And the way the itemization works and how you can make a "build" for your character as you pick and choose your advantages and drawbacks in combat is commendable. It's almost like a taste of Diablo II itemization in a non loot game. That part is splendid.

But this game is a bit too long. I clocked in a little over 70 hours, and honestly, there was enough environmental content to make a plenty long enough 40 hour game. There's lots of running back and forth along linearly designed environments, not unlike DA2. But to it's credit there are also extended sequences with new environments that you never revisit. But the real thing that holds this game from being all that it can be is the writing and the direction. This game can't decide if it wants to be a reboot of the franchise or a sequel. Newcomers will probably feel like they missed out on a lot of prior events that are referenced, and series veterans will feel like there's very little continuation of the prior games. In an attempt to appeal to everyone, it appeals to no one. The writing is just serviceable, but it order to be a Dragon Age game, the writing needs to be more than serviceable. When you do get to some of the consequential choices, they often don't have enough set up beforehand - just a line or two from two characters with different ideas and then you make a choice.

The title "The Veilguard" doesn't make a lot of sense either. It must have been a last minute change from marketing. "Dreadwolf" makes so much more sense for the story they were telling (You know, a story about the Dreadwolf and the fallout from his choices in Inquisition). I finished the game and I don't even know what The Veilguard is (I assume it's your team?). But that would be pretty stupid because your player character always calls his companions "the team" and they're never given a name. Just compare it to DA Inquisition, where you're building the inquisition, you are called The Inquisitor, and the inquisition is mentioned constantly throughout the story. Comparing DA Inquisition and DA The Veilguard in terms of world building and storytelling is night and day, and to top it off DA Inquisition isn't exactly on the level of DA2 and Origins in terms of writing either.

Another thing with the writing is how on the nose it is. First of all, I fully support the LGBT community and I have no issues with their inclusion here, but compare the way two different LGBT characters were handled in Inquisition and the Veilguard. In Inquisition, Dorian comes from a region that is not accepting of gay people and his coming out could put him in danger. But in the Dragon Age world there probably is no word for "gay" so after much coaxing he says "I prefer the company of men." It works for the world building and also fits with the flowery and wordy prose that the character uses and it gets the point across. In The Veilguard a character comes out by saying "I'm non-binary." Just like that. Opening a conversation with that line. Using language that wasn't in our vocabulary 15 years ago. Is that really the best way that story beat could have been worded and worked into the world building in an ancient high fantasy setting with knights and dragons and shit?

Another criticism of the writing is that it is very sarcastic and quippy and like a Marvel movie. That's not a bar to strive for, we really can do better than this.

A minor nitpick, but something that bothered me was that the menus and GUI are way too modern, sleek, and glossy for a high fantasy game with dragons and magic and shit. Not a single serif font to me found, and everything looks so "clean." You could slap these menus on a futuristic AAA game and they'd feel right at home.

DA The Veilguard is a game that is good in the areas it doesn't need to be good in, and kinda bad in the areas it needs to be good in.

For the series I'd rank 'em like this:

1. DA Origins
2. DA Inquisition
3. DA The Veilguard
4. DA 2

[Marc]

Disco Elysium. Genuinely some of the best writing and VA I've ever experienced. Only a few hours in, but loving it.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Disco Elysium. Genuinely some of the best writing and VA I've ever experienced. Only a few hours in, but loving it.

That seems to be the consensus, which I guess makes me the outlier (that said, I did enjoy the first couple hours where everything being ridiculously overwritten was still sort of novel and cute)

If you make it to the end without it becoming tedious, you're in luck. Seemingly everyone that had anything to do with the game have each spun-off individual development studios. Meaning they'll be roughly 18 games "from the makers of Disco Elysium" hitting gamepass within the next couple of years.

[XoPachi]

Replaying The Big Catch's prologue. One of my favorite things to come out this year. I feel like I've played something more explicitly like this in the past but cannot place it. In terms of presentation, I mean.

[m.sniffles.esq]

I feel like I've played something more explicitly like this in the past but cannot place it. In terms of presentation, I mean.

I mean, I've only watched the trailer, but "Rayman with a fishing rod" seems to be the most obvious/explicit

[vol.2]

Replaying Dark Forces via The Force Engine.

The nitty gritty history between DF and me:

Been playing this game since about 1998 I guess it was. My buddy had it when it released, and I remember hanging out in his basement and watching him plow through Stormtroopers and thinking to myself that it wasn't all that interesting. It actually took me awhile to warm up to the game because I had not previously been such a big FPS fan. I appreciated Wolfenstein 3D when it released because of the novel gameplay, but I was more of a hardcore RPG and adventure game fan as a young person. I really wanted something a little deeper than what was on tap with Doom and Doom-a-likes. FF to 1997 and Dark Forces II comes out: I was in community college and in my first apt, and I got my very first personal computer that was all mine and not a family PC, a Fujitsu Lifebook with an MMX processor. It was straight-up VGA and all, but pretty fast and the MMX made it sail through (relatively) software rendering in games like DFII. The LCD screen wasn't maybe the best, but it was certainly enough if I turned down the lights. I was totally obsessed with DFII. My friend and roommate at the time got the strategy guide to show us the secrets, and both of us were hooked. The implementation of the force powers was startlingly well done. It did run out of steam at the end though, I have to admit. In parallel, I had been playing a lot of Quake with my cousin and starting to appreciate what a good FPS was and how the combat strategy can take the place of the narrative content. So I got curious about what I had missed with DF and Doom and all those other games that all came out around that time and started plowing through them. Since that time, DF has become one of my favorite games; I really appreciate the simplicity and how easy it is to pop in and out of it. There's enough secrets and interesting level design that rises above the banal masses of Doom clones, and it's satisfying to get into a flow state with the game. It's also a perfect game to play on a good VGA monitor in 640x400. It's got great chunky pixels and vibrant colors.

The Force Engine V1.1:

I've been watching this project since the early days when there was a DF dot net and the early forums. It was something like 10 years from the time Lucious started the project and then went dark and took down the forum. I was just as shocked as everyone else when he popped up again and basically "finished" TFE. What I like about it is that it's interesting to play in widescreen with expanded FOV and obviously there are some great graphic updates like the sky rendering and texture packs, etc. If you love DF and you want to play around with the game and variations, you can't do much better than TFE. However, there are still bugs to the game which are followed on the Discord. So far, the only thing really game-breaking for me is that the MT32 music seems to not be working. It properly connects to the system midi and outputs to hardware or munt, but it doesn't play the mt32 notes; I think it's stuck playing the general midi notes. The notes are in different banks from the MT32, so the music plays, but it's using the wrong instruments. Instead, I've been using TFE's built-in SC-55 sound-alike which is admittedly pretty awesome and I'm enjoying it.

TFE vs OG DF:

TFE will never replace DOS DF for me. It can't impose exclusive fullscreen via SDL as far as I can tell, so it won't do 640x400 on my VGA monitor unless I change my system resolution and swap main monitors. This isn't a deal-breaker, but it's a lot more inconvenient than DOSBox. It also can't play the MT32 music. Which is to say, my preferred way of playing DF is in DOS (or DOSBox) in the original resolution with chunky scanlines and with MT32. There's really no reason for me to play TFE other than dressing up DF in different clothes for while. That said, I will be checking out some of the HD texture packs and models out there to have some fun with all that. It's worth taking for a spin in order to get some more millage out of the old game.

[Lander]

Disco Elysium. Genuinely some of the best writing and VA I've ever experienced. Only a few hours in, but loving it.

Incredible game. A proper 'genre successor' to Planescape, with no interest in being partisan despite the prominence of political subject matter. Bloody terrible shame what happened to the studio; proof positive that dirty dealings out-success talent in most cases.

So, what kind of cop are you? I went for something between Sherlock Holmes and Dale Cooper for my run - analytical, with a streak of weird open mind. Tempted to go back for a brutish Gene Hunt build, though I know it'd feel awful given how likeable the cast is.

Disco Elysium. Genuinely some of the best writing and VA I've ever experienced. Only a few hours in, but loving it.

That seems to be the consensus, which I guess makes me the outlier (that said, I did enjoy the first couple hours where everything being ridiculously overwritten was still sort of novel and cute)

Did you play the original release, or the fully-voiced director's cut? They recast a bunch of VAs (most notably, the personalities) and voiced everything in the rerelease, including a lot of quirky adventure game-y text that I'm told doesn't translate so well to oration.

Truth be told I've been scared off from trying it, since my memory of that first play is so good that I don't want it tarnished.

Spoiler

'ARRY DU BWAAA, look wotta state 'chure in. Pa-fetick!

I forget which organ that one was, but he's a favourite

[Marc]

Disco Elysium. Genuinely some of the best writing and VA I've ever experienced. Only a few hours in, but loving it.

Incredible game. A proper 'genre successor' to Planescape, with no interest in being partisan despite the prominence of political subject matter. Bloody terrible shame what happened to the studio; proof positive that dirty dealings out-success talent in most cases.

So, what kind of cop are you? I went for something between Sherlock Holmes and Dale Cooper for my run - analytical, with a streak of weird open mind. Tempted to go back for a brutish Gene Hunt build, though I know it'd feel awful given how likeable the cast is.

Disco Elysium. Genuinely some of the best writing and VA I've ever experienced. Only a few hours in, but loving it.

That seems to be the consensus, which I guess makes me the outlier (that said, I did enjoy the first couple hours where everything being ridiculously overwritten was still sort of novel and cute)

Did you play the original release, or the fully-voiced director's cut? They recast a bunch of VAs (most notably, the personalities) and voiced everything in the rerelease, including a lot of quirky adventure game-y text that I'm told doesn't translate so well to oration.

Truth be told I've been scared off from trying it, since my memory of that first play is so good that I don't want it tarnished.

Spoiler

'ARRY DU BWAAA, look wotta state 'chure in. Pa-fetick!

I forget which organ that one was, but he's a favourite

Given my propensity to over-indulge with alcohol, I'm playing true to life, befuddled but well-meaning.
Playing on PS5, not everything is voiced, it's certainly verbose, but it's all slippage should you wish.

[m.sniffles.esq]

Did you play the original release, or the fully-voiced director's cut? They recast a bunch of VAs (most notably, the personalities) and voiced everything in the rerelease

It was a while ago, but I'm preeeety sure only certain characters (the kid from the first puzzle, the narrator--which was one of the worst parts as he was given 5000 words per minimum, and... spoke... so... very... slowly... that I started to dread progressing the story as not to wake him--a few others) but I don't think everyone was voice acted.

Ultimately, I liked the art (which is strange since it's basically a text adventure) but the whole 'cool-guy-arm's-distance' aspect ("I'm not really writing Pynchonian meta-fiction, it's a parody of Pynchonian meta-fiction. That's why it's bad. It's a joke. And I'm not trying to make an adventure game, it's a parody of adventure game. That's why it's bad. It's a joke" etc, etc, etc) just wore me out, and not 1/10th as clever as the creator(s)* thinks it is.

That said, it seems many, many, many people smarted than I declared it GENIUS (spelled S-M-U-G), so what do I know?

*I remember the press they were putting out upon release were declaring everything the work of a single person. Either it was too much genius to house in a single organism, and the guy split himself into eight different people, or it was a bit of a fib. Because there's now at least six different studios claiming responsibility for the game.

[neorichieb1971]

Burnout 3 Takedown.

One of the franchises that I feel pushed the PS2 that gets no love on forums these days. This game has an annoying commentator with its Crash FM dude just motor mouthing through all the races. I am not sure you're supposed to win in this game as its just mayhem and using the nitrous reached ludicrous speeds that you cannot say its skill, its just blind luck. I found the crashing annoying at first but after 2 hours of gameplay I just enjoyed it for what it was, mayhem.

Gift - Switch

Dark, linear ship liner platformer with puzzles. In many places just trial and error but I completed it.

Wavetale - Switch

A really good relaxing 6 or so hours of gameplay, enjoyed it quite a bit. The game auto saves and I got stuck in a loop so I had to start again from the 75% completion. 2nd run was a lot quicker as I skipped all the reading bits and got back to 75% in 3+ hours. Its a game in which you cannot really die unless you force it yourself and even if you do that it just puts you in a safe spot and off you go again.

[m.sniffles.esq]

I was reminded of the existence of Cyberpunx 200829 this morning, and seeing that everything is currently running a 'sooper blaxx friday' sale, I figured I'd probably get $20 of amusement out of it

Within 15 minutes, I seemed to reach an endgame where I'm trapped in a training module and a robot punches me for all eternity*. I guessing this is considered to be a "bad ending" Good thing this game isn't a buggy mess anymore.

*I'm being serious. I completed whatever objective, and the module didn't end. I attempting killing the robot and it seems it's immortal. I seem to be immortal too, as the fucking thing has been punching me for THREE HOURS (I left and ran errands, only to return home and discover it was still going on).

Update: I quit out, and played my first mission, disrupting some organ harvesting operation. After killing 6-7 underlings, this boss spawned with a GIANT Jesse Ventura from Predator machine gun...

...and he immediately got stuck in a wall

I can't even imagine what this game was like when it was 'broken' (maybe I can... it was called Stalker 2)

[Marc]

Burnout 3 Takedown.

One of the franchises that I feel pushed the PS2 that gets no love on forums these days. This game has an annoying commentator with its Crash FM dude just motor mouthing through all the races. I am not sure you're supposed to win in this game as its just mayhem and using the nitrous reached ludicrous speeds that you cannot say its skill, its just blind luck. I found the crashing annoying at first but after 2 hours of gameplay I just enjoyed it for what it was - mayhem.

Anyone with sense knows that Byrnout 2 is far better. 3 is where they started pushing the combat, and fucked the racing.

[neorichieb1971]

Burnout 3 Takedown.

One of the franchises that I feel pushed the PS2 that gets no love on forums these days. This game has an annoying commentator with its Crash FM dude just motor mouthing through all the races. I am not sure you're supposed to win in this game as its just mayhem and using the nitrous reached ludicrous speeds that you cannot say its skill, its just blind luck. I found the crashing annoying at first but after 2 hours of gameplay I just enjoyed it for what it was - mayhem.

Anyone with sense knows that Byrnout 2 is far better. 3 is where they started pushing the combat, and fucked the racing.

I have 2, 3, 4. I did 2 to death in 2003 as it was just mind blowingly good racing at the time. The trouble is if you play 3 with the mindset of 2, it does become unbelievably frustrating as 5 of the 6 cars scrap it out whilst 1st just goes off into a 10 second lead and you never see them again. 3 was the first EA game.

I don't have Dominator yet.

[Lander]

Given my propensity to over-indulge with alcohol, I'm playing true to life, befuddled but well-meaning.
Playing on PS5, not everything is voiced, it's certainly verbose, but it's all slippage should you wish.

Holmes was no stranger to substance abuse; that was my excuse, at least. It's for the case! Ahh, that's the stuff.

It's a good path, imo - Kim really shines as the exasperated Lawful Good half of the partnership. Teetotal (i.e. Must Die Mode) is another tempting run, since I wonder how he develops when not having to babysit as much.

It was a while ago, but I'm preeeety sure only certain characters (the kid from the first puzzle, the narrator--which was one of the worst parts as he was given 5000 words per minimum, and... spoke... so... very... slowly... that I started to dread progressing the story as not to wake him--a few others) but I don't think everyone was voice acted.

That sounds like the original; the new version gives every indicental interaction - like the ceiling fan you can die to in the first room - the lesiurely ASMR sussurus, which colors stuff like A terrible mistake! Turn the lights off IMMEDIATELY!

Poking around on YT, it looks like they 'murica-washed Cuno too. Regular brat instead of geordie-rific fochin' wayaye man I swear on me granmotha's lyfe ya pig c***

Ultimately, I liked the art (which is strange since it's basically a text adventure) but the whole 'cool-guy-arm's-distance' aspect ("I'm not really writing Pynchonian meta-fiction, it's a parody of Pynchonian meta-fiction. That's why it's bad. It's a joke. And I'm not trying to make an adventure game, it's a parody of adventure game. That's why it's bad. It's a joke" etc, etc, etc) just wore me out, and not 1/10th as clever as the creator(s)* thinks it is.

That said, it seems many, many, many people smarted than I declared it GENIUS (spelled S-M-U-G), so what do I know?

Huh, I didn't get an ironic vibe at all. Definite lashings of... forced self-deprecation? (i.e. you're a mess, get your life together player - like Souls browbeating you with Undead / Unkindled / Tarnished / etc. as a constant reminder of low station) but generally quite earnest once lowered into the rockstar-wannabe hobocop groove.

Though in fairness, I do need to up my literary game; I'm still at the Dark Tower key-stage of metafiction - wouldn't recognize Pynchon if it slapped me.

*I remember the press they were putting out upon release were declaring everything the work of a single person. Either it was too much genius to house in a single organism, and the guy split himself into eight different people, or it was a bit of a fib. Because there's now at least six different studios claiming responsibility for the game.

See, I thought it was four, give or take a couple of biz guys

Same old as far as splinter studios though - it's all hot air until they put something out and reveal how many layers of caveat-emptor scare quotes should be wrapped around the from the staff of ZA/UM tagline.

[Lethe]

My response to PS:Torment's positive reputation is "haven't you people ever read a book?"
My response to Disco Elysium's negative reputation is "haven't you people ever read a book?"
That's the difference between them.

Perpetual American hypersensitivity has resulted in the distinction between commentary and humor growing tiresomely thin. Poe's law etc.

[m.sniffles.esq]

wouldn't recognize Pynchon if it slapped me

If you played Disco Elysium, it's already slapped you
(purposefully verbose and dense prose. Often in the guise of some genre, such as pulp detective fiction. With labyrinth plotting dealing with conspiracy vs chaos, free-will vs fate, enlightenment vs the abyss. Sound familiar?)

[Lander]

If you played Disco Elysium, it's already slapped you
(purposefully verbose and dense prose. Often in the guise of some genre, such as pulp detective fiction. With labyrinth plotting dealing with conspiracy vs chaos, free-will vs fate, enlightenment vs the abyss. Sound familiar?)

Ah, like Sandman! (Apologies to any readers who just died of scholarly eye-roll at my lowering the conversation to comic books )

Though Sandman is an anthology over the idea, using onlooker gods as a device to hop between meta-level-1 pulp genres in pursuit of meta-level-2+ philosophy, but I totally see those ideas in DE.

In fact, I think you nailed it.

There's a sidequest later on where you can help a scientist analyze a pin-point hole in the fabric of reality; contrary to the narrative-derailing OH SHIT WE'RE IN A SIMULATION (or similar) it'd be elsewhere, the topic is gently put down and allowed to lurk on the periphery as a piece of indelible existential dread.

Plus other uncannies and vision quests; I don't know whether Pychon focuses on keeping meta-level-1 internally consistent, or freewheels wildly into higher-order notions similar to (my embarrassingly Cryo Interactive-founded understanding of) Dick's Ubik, but Disco makes sure to reel the kite string back in and tie up the human element after it's sent you on a trip or two.

Perhaps it's lack of exposure bias (or secretly being the insufferable smarter than thou type) but that stuff is catnip to me

[m.sniffles.esq]

Ah, like Sandman! (Apologies to any readers who just died of scholarly eye-roll at my lowering the conversation to comic books

Well, Gaiman and especially his buddy Alan Moore (aka mr. happiness)

If you're interested, Pynchon's first three are his 'big' three (and really set the standard for that whole... thing) V, Crying of Lot 49, and Gravity's Rainbow. After which he took about 17 years off, and while those later books have fans, I can't say I'm one of them (It's funny that you bring up Dick, because in a lot of ways, the one later book I read of Pynchon reminded me of late-period Dick. LOTS of words dedicated to hippie burn-out mental loop-de-loops, that one only gradually discovers aren't supposed to make a lick of sense)

[To Far Away Times]

Inscryption is the coolest fucking shit.

To say anything more would be a sin, just go play it. And make sure you go in blind.

[vol.2]

Just played Strife today for the first time and having a blast. Not sure how I managed to miss this one, but it's a great sort of Doom clone game with some interesting creative choices.

The interactivity is frankly a lot more than I expected from such a primitive FPS. It's got more of an overt narrative going on than most contemporary FPSes, but without much deep environmental storytelling.

The not-so-good elements of Strife are the relative sameness of the levels and the slightly janky combat; it somehow manages to feel clunkier than Doom does, in spite of being built on an a more updated version of the engine. I think it has to do with the hit detection and enemy AI or something. It just never feels like things are connecting the way they should.

Digging into reactions, it seems that contemporary reviews were mostly upset with the use of an outdated engine. That makes sense; at the time of release, it wasn't exactly impressive. I don't think it's some neglected masterpiece as some people seem to now claim, but it's a very fun game with some interesting mechanic additions to Doom that make it feel different; the RPG-like conversations you have with NPCs is novel and fun, and the hub-map layout of the game makes it feel somewhat similar to console adventure games of the late 90s.

Glad I finally decided to try it out.