It’s a good game, but you should know ZA/UM (the studio behind the game) was sold under suspicious cirucmstances; the lead designer and other major memebrs are no longer part of the studio (they sued, but it didn’t go anywhere). Personally I wouldn’t give them any money.
I really don’t understand. Can someone divulge the circumstances or is this all just hearsay? IP law really isn’t all that complicated. Its been in practice for a long time, and generally things only need to go to court when one of the parties didn’t do some basic homework. If the court didn’t rule in the author’s favor I find it hard to believe the author didn’t legitimately give up their rights to that IP.
Four prominent members left at once, including the lead designer and the game’s artist. They claimed the studio was acquired through a fraudulent purchase and went to court (and the suit was dismissed). There are many more details, look it up if you want to know more.
The studio has since laid off 25% and cancelled a standalone expansion to Disco Elysium and and its sequel.
People Make Games did a 2.5 hour deep dive on it. youtu.be/JGIGA8taN-MI’m blown away by the amount of work they put into it. Just finished watching it. What a mess. I’m going to need some sleep while I process all of that.
eventually …
So after having watched that, I’m convinced that Robert Kurvitz and Aleksander Rostov were defrauded. I take what the studio employees are saying with a grain of salt. I mean, they are still employed so how can they possibly be trust worthy. Even if Argo wrote Cuno (god bless him). If Kurvitz was difficult to work under, it has nothing to do with the alleged theft of his share in the company. That People Make Games really leaned into his toxicity at the end of this doc kinda ticked me off. Like yeah he shouldn’t have to answer to that. That’s not the story. That’s a distraction. If the Estonian court doesn’t rule in Kurvitz’s and Rostov’s favor, they better have a damn good explanation.
Outer Wilds and Hollow Knight share the spotlight for greatest games of all time. Both are as close to perfect as it gets.
Bastion gets an honorable mention. Not sure if SuperGiant Games is considered indie anymore, especially now that Hades hit big, but I love their early work.
I played A Short Hike recently, and I was transported. It’s a painterly little adventure in which you walk and glide your way through an archipelago, meeting people and solving small puzzles, mostly around platforming. It’s amazingly soothing. First game my wife actually enjoys too, and she’s not into games at all.
Outer Wilds. For a few friends who don’t have it yet. I’ve already bought it a couple times.
I already own it… but it’s just that good. So good I vicariously try to relive the game by watching livestreams and Eelis’ recaps of other live-streamers.
It really is something you have to experience blind. Since the entire game progression is knowledge based and pulling threads on the mysteries until the mosaic of the story and experience unfolds is truly something you can experience once.
I thought you meant The Outer Wilds, and spent a solid two minutes on a routine sanity check. Hadn’t heard of this game though, so we’ll call it even 😸
It was a bit of a slow burner on release so I’m not surprised you didn’t hear about it. People had access to the beta years before the official release, so when it came out essentially nothing really changed and there wasn’t this big announcement.
How is the dlc? I had a tough time with outer wilds. At the time I played it, I found it to be very frustrating. I needed a spoiler to get past two or three major points. But in hindsight I think it’s really an impressive game. I’m thinking about picking up the dlc, but I’m not sure about it and I don’t want to search about it to avoid spoiler.
It started off a little slow, but imo it was better than the main game. It’s both a little more streamlined and better story-wise. You probably should play the main game first
The art is phenomenal, but the writing is cringeworthy. I loved it as a teenager but I have a hard time taking it seriously now. I wish I never replayed it so I could have kept my nostalgia.
The combat mechanics are fun and feel amazing when played as intended, but they’re massively unbalanced. IIRC with two exceptions (enemies that require a parry to enter a vulnerable state) every single fight can be won flawlessly by spamming Dust Storm even on the highest difficulty.
It’s a remarkable game, all the more so since it was only one dev. I 100%'ed it, and it sits in a place of honor in my collection, but it’s not one I’ll ever return to.
From memory I do remember things getting ludicrously easy if you levelled Fidget right up. And I don’t recall the writing at all. Likely just nonsense to move the plot along while opening up new areas.
But as a one man effort, it’s incredible. Especially the art style, which normally falls into the pixel art or just plain ugly when it comes to the 1-2 man indie games.
Agreed. The art looks straight out of an anime, and Dust’s combat animations are really smooth and satisfying. I think the cutscenes looked really good, too, but it’s been long enough that I don’t remember.
I had a quick look on YouTube and they’re not bad at all. It’s hardly Baldur’s Gate 3, but it doesn’t look out of place next to most of the AA Ubisoft 2D games that had dozens of people working on them.
I recently bought stardew valley and its fun but the farming grind feels kinda forced, no? I feel like I need to pay attention to not loose myself in the game which defeats the purpose.
I can imagine it gets better but the grind is kind of not for me. The mining and farming grind in minecraft I understand and the grind in factorio as well. Maybe its heightened due to the saving cycle that seems to want you to keep going.
I used to find it kinda stressful until i realised there was no time limit to the game like the usual harvest moons so once I realised that, I never find myself rushing around or overextending my ability to farm to grind more and just focused on what I was enjoying in the game which was a bit of everything.
There is sort of a time limit though, you get your “review” at the end of the second year (at which point no new events happen). Also getting things planted in time for when the seasons change etc is kind of time-limiting.
But that’s all detail, it’s great that people can enjoy it without time pressures!
I only really played early on, not dabbled with it properly in years but I do remember things happening. It’s not like I could only get things to happen in the first two years in game
There are ways to play (besides mods) where you barely have to grow crops. Unless you’re trying for all the achievements there’s not really a wrong way or a time limit to play.
Slay the Spire: I don’t just think it’s the best deck building roguelike, I think it’s the quintessential deck building roguelike. It’s such a complete exploration of the design space of the genre in terms of the options it gives the player to build their deck and the challenges it puts those decks up against. Not that there aren’t any other fun games in this genre, but they all still feel like STS, but worse and with a gimmick that doesn’t add much.
Balatro has taken that mantle for the moment (over a hundred hours in under two weeks). Other similar games would be Cobalt Core (finished with all characters, don’t feel the need to go back though) and… Monster Train (it’s okay, not as tight as the others).
I’m in love with balatro, but do you think it’s better than slay the spire? I think slay the spire just feels… More of a game than balatro I guess? Maybe I feel that way just because there’s not really a story set up against balatro, and slay the spire at least has you fight an entity that you feel good about.
StS doesn’t really have a story, but yes, it has characters instead; I don’t really mind either direction, Balatro’s fight-against-the-game is essentially the same thing.
They are different, and I do enjoy them both in their own ways. Balatro’s heavy focus on combinations (and regular stores) means decks can shape quite quickly into something very unique. It’s also more accessible as the games are shorter; StS can be an hour if successful, if not more. My comment is more that Balatro is newer and has at least satisfied the itch which - after being out for years - StS has perhaps not been able to do in such a way for a while.
I picked up Balatro because of this thread and I agree, it’s a great game and something a little fresh, but slay the spire is still probably the best.
I agree about the “more like a game” element. Baltoro feels more like playing cards than playing a video game. I think it’s cause I’m using the same odds/play styles as when I play real life card games.
Yeah, StS really ruined me for other deckbuilders, and I’m still chasing that high. Some pretty good ones have been Power Chord and Banners of Ruin. They’re both team-based games where cards are tied to certain characters, and I think that particular mechanic adds enough that it took me a while to crack the code on them.
Wildfrost is a really good one. It’s got a lot of different play styles and has a pretty big learning curve.
Also on android there is Pirate Outlaws. It feels like a slay the spire clone, but has a good amount of content and does enough different to be worth mentioning.
Not exactly the same cause it’s not a deck builder, but has a similar feel is dicey dungeons (both steam and android). It’s a lot simpler and luck is a larger factor, but it’s got a decent gameplay loop and being able to play on Android helped scratch that itch on the road.
I liked Wildfrost, but it didn’t have that much replay value after 30 or so hours, whereas I have 500+ in StS. They have updated it since I last played though, so maybe there’s a bit more to do now?
They’ve definitely added things to it over the year or so it’s been out. Not sure if enough to make it worth it for you. It’s also possible I’m just bad at it, as I haven’t beaten it (although only 12hrs on it).
I’m not too into deckbuilders, so I played it just for that gorgeous presentation lol. The art style falls under an unusual category of “cute, but I’m pretty sure that the artist also draws naughty stuff on the side”
Pony island is a hoot! I knocked it out in a couple hours.
I SAVORED The Hex though. After 50-some hours of Inscryption I thought there’s no way The Hex could compare… I have a lot more play time in Inscryption, but overall I thought The Hex was fucking brilliant. Hard recommend to anyone who likes Mullins’ games.
I envy you greatly right now, you’re about to embark on a beautiful journey. Xcom2 is one of my favorites, especially once mods factor in, of which there are thousands covering so many franchises and ideas you can’t possibly play them all.
I wish you nothing but an excellent time and lots of dead aliens.
Xenonauts 2 is 30% off also. It’s a modern version of classic X-COM, which is quite different from modern XCOM. It’s still in early access, but it’s very good. I’ve done one playthrough (to the end of what was available) and I’m waiting for release to do another. It’s much better than what XCOM has become in my opinion though.
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