Trying to play Alan Wake 2. Trying as in no time but still try to make a bit of time for it.

Hellblade II is almost certainly coming out this year, perhaps very soon, so I got Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice for a few dollars on the recent Steam sale. It’s certainly a looker, but I would prefer if the mechanics were a bit more sophisticated. Maybe it’ll get there, but I’m a few hours in now, and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen the entire loop. The combat and puzzle mechanics are both what I’d call serviceable, but it’s really the presentation in this game that they knocked out of the park, yet I still don’t know if that’s enough for me to give the game a glowing recommendation, even if I am enjoying the game.

I’m still making progress in Pillars of Eternity ahead of Avowed’s release, finally getting into some of the White March content, around level 6. The game remains great, but my biggest criticism thus far is still that the intended player level for a given area or quest should be better communicated. I end up timidly doing the stuff that I’m confident is around my level rather than the content that appears to be most interesting to me at the time.

Some friends and I started up a co-op game of Quake II in the remaster, and holy cow, this is so much better than our time in the first Quake, due in no small part to that compass feature they added. The era of FPS games I’m most into would be the era just beyond Quake II’s initial release, and the biggest difference, I’d say, between those two eras in level design is that the older “boomer shooters” would let you get lost in a maze while their successors would close off access to most of the areas that you don’t need to bother with yet/anymore, alleviating frustration. It also just feels so much better right out of the gate than the previous Quake, and the levels are somewhat trying to approximate a space that would exist in a fiction created for the game rather than just being a vague labyrinth with monsters in it.

In another co-op group, I’m in the early hours of Titan Quest, as a way of dipping my toes into the loot game genre, which I hadn’t really had a taste for in the past. I figured with the sequel on the way, and no desire to touch Diablo with a ten foot pole, this would be a good time to do it. We just had to fight a centaur that I’m not sure whether it counts as a boss or not; hopefully bosses in this game are more interesting than that one was, because with the skills we had access to in the early game (not many), the fight was mostly just running around in circles and taking shots at him when we could without getting pummeled.

Monster Hunter World. Spectacular game and seems to be having a second wind right now is player base.

Been playing Dishonored for the first time and really enjoying it. I’m only at the bridge and trying to play a low/no kill game. I’m not succeeding just yet, but it’s been really enjoyable and they do stealth really well. I’m baffled that they mismanaged to get the team that made this and Prey to push out Redfall? Man.

Just picked up FFVII after the second or third hiatus or my third or fourth attempt to play it. FINALLY made it to the Nibelheim story and past Midgard. And that somehow still manages to work on me as a first time player.

Just beat Banner Saga 1 and have never felt so much like a failure after “beating” a game. That game is trying to unseat This War of Mine for decisions regretted/minute.

I’m wanting to start up my Nintendo series playthroughs again by either starting Mario Galaxy 2 or trying to remember what on earth was happening in Majora’s Mask (3DS) something about the water temple maybe?

I’ve been grinding that Diablo 4 and enjoying it a lot.

After I finished the campaign, I made it to World Tier 4 (highest difficulty) pretty quickly, and I’m now level 97. I fulfilled my dream of becoming a bear that punches millions of demons, so that’s pretty cool. Although I can’t be a bear all the time though, which is pretty lame. In town, I’m forced to run around as a boring human.

The next season begins in 10 days, and I don’t know if there’s a short break in between. Level 100 should definitely be possible, and a few other “milestones,” but I don’t know if I manage to do everything I’d like to.

In Diablo 3, I’d usually play at the start of a season for a few weeks, and then take a break until the next one, so I never burned myself out on it. Since I started Diablo 4 at the tail end of the season, I’ll probably end up playing a lot longer than I’d usually do, so burn out is definitely possible for me. A new character should hopefully freshen things up enough, and a friend might also play with me.

Network performance was much better this week, although there are still some hiccups here and there, mainly during the Legion events.

Just finished Observer: System Redux. It’s a cyberpunk/horror game made by a Polish studio. They did a good job using the medium to create a sense of dread and foreboding.

Also playing Aurora, the free 4x most people compare to Dwarf Fortress. A new release came out a few weeks ago and it’s fun to learn the new mechanics.

Trying The Last of Us on PC. The TAA in this game is atrocious, everything is a smear fest

Quake Champions, still my fav shooter

Alan Wake 2. I’ll spare any commentary on all the things it does well and that make it a one of the most ambitiously distinctive (AAA) games…ever? because that’s been well covered.

On the other hand, I am kinda surprised that the combat is as… deficient as it is. I never liked the combat experience in the first game. I don’t like how the enemies were programmed to run off screen to the sides of view, because Alan isn’t nimble enough to pivot direction sufficiently to track multiple enemies, and it just felt cheap and frustrating. Dodging is clunky too.

Control was the next Remedy game I played, and I thought the combat in that game was fantastic. The gunplay felt right, and the paranormal powers were weighty and responsive. Even the levitate power looks and feels fantastic; the animation is super cool and I love watching it.

So I had high hopes for Alan Wake 2, but the combat again feels too imprecise and unbalanced. Dodging is still clunky, projectiles clip through objects, etc.

Oh well. It’s a bummer, but in a game like this it’s well overshadowed by the strengths.

Baldur’s Gate 3 -Just best Heroic Mode for the first time and got those sweet sweet golden dice.

Im very excited to start a new playthrough and use em!

I’ve been thinking about giving Diablo 4 another shot… I haven’t played since release is the new season any good?

right now cp 2077 pl

I finished Cassette Beasts a couple of days ago and now I can never go back to Pokémon.

I honestly can’t sing its praises enough.

Don’t even know if I can play any other monster tamers now. Still, I might pick up Coromon and/or Nexomon: Extinction or something else at some point, but man, Cassette Beasts absolutely spoiled me.

Highly recommend to anyone who’d like some chill vibes (with some dark moments to make for good contrast) and no significant stress in terms of strategy. Like, yeah, it technically matters when it comes to type advantages, but sometimes it’s just fun to fuck around and see what fusions you can come up with, regardless of type.

Oh, and if you like games where you aren’t restricted to gender norms and can romance anyone of any gender, also a good option.

I feel like if you enjoyed the vibe of games like Stardew Valley or Spiritfarer or (going old school here) Chrono Trigger, you’ll probably enjoy this, even if the gameplay is entirely different.

Honestly, even if you enjoy Pokémon but might be sick of it for whatever reason, it’s a nice change of pace as well. It has enough in common to feel familiar, but sets itself apart in a bunch of ways which make it stand entirely on its own.

Music is also great, though you might get sick of one song that repeats. And repeats. And repeats.

@chloyster Guild Wars 2 World vs World and Ghost Recon Breakpoint (which was on deep discount). The latter appears to have been mostly turned around with regards to its release bugs but I am still in the process of gauging the capability of the enemy AI.
The fact that you can tweak the gameplay details on a scale of “the division Style looter shooter” right up to “almost mil-sim” levels is quite impressive to me.

I tried that return to moria game and it wasn’t my style. Felt a little janky, but amazing concept.

I fired up Valheim again and decided to close my eyes, delete my old worlds, and just go for a new solo experience. Having fun.

I started playing No Man’s Sky lately, in VR. I played it closer to it release in the past and it couldn’t captivate me, but now I’m kinda in a tumultuous period in my life and the simple gathering mechanics make for a calm passtime.