All the Game Awards chatter and the current sale made me take the plunge on Clair Obscur" Expedition 33 and I’m so glad I did. Only ~8h in or so but it is such a vibrant, wild world to explore and it makes me think of the classic JRPGs I played growing up. The introduction of more active battling mechanics like parrying and dodging adds a level of complexity to the combat that I enjoy, even if I cannot for the life of me get the parry timing right.
Steam Deck took a couple minor tweaks to make it look good and the hair effects still are a bit janky (eg. Gustave’s hair will light up from a light source making it look grey). The soundtrack is phenomenal and was the first time in a long time that I’ve wanted to buy a game soundtrack (this battle track in one of the early areas cemented this as something special to me).
Super worth it and excited to dive in deep on this one.
I did see a tip about turning up the volume for sound cues when I was digging around trying to find if there was some kind of setting I could enable for a more visual cue (like you get for a Jump attack). I don’t usually play games with headphones on but I find myself doing that with this one!
The Steam Deck experience is pretty good. The issues I’ve had with the characters’ hairstyles catching the light weird seems to be more an issue of the lighting in general. I was in the Stone Wave Cliffs which has a lot of caves to explore and a lot of instances where there’s a “light at the end of a tunnel”. What I noticed was the light at the end was almost too bright/overpowering and it made it impossible to see the cave around me which, while maybe accurate to what you’d experience in real life with losing night vision and whatnot, makes it really hard to see/navigate. Similarly some of the menus are noticably darker as if I would need to turn the brightness up but not every menu is like that either. Just some weirdness there and I haven’t tried that section on my PC to see if it’s just how the game is or how the Steam Deck is handling it. Otherwise though, the Deck experience is pretty good and I’m getting into it for a couple hours a night without much issue. Definitely not the cleanest/fanciest graphics but in the “good enough” camp for me that aside from the lighting woes, I don’t notice much of a problem.
I restarted “Edna and Harvey: The Breakout”. Partly because I wanted to play it for a long time and partly because my pc is too weak for bigger stuff. Already started it some years ago, but took a break from the game which was a bit too long to get into it again. So now I finally restarted and am verry happy with it. The dialogues and the design is just fun. Also it is quite relaxing.
Have they fixed the movement so sprinting doesn’t disable when the terrain rises 2 cm? And so you don’t have to melee-jump to get everywhere at a decent speed?
Are there more than 2 space station interiors now? And more than 3 hostile plants across multiple galaxies? And actual geography like rivers or ice caps?
As you can maybe tell I wanted to like the game but wasn’t very impressed when I played ~2 years ago.
But I don’t think that’s all that important. Mlre importantly it feels more interesging now, and probably has a few cool new things you didn’t even know you wanted.
I found nms is pretty reliably getting less boring and anoying over time, though it’s still not perfect by any means.
Thanks! Can you elaborate on the movement updates? It felt bad before, especially since I used to play Warframe (which probably has the best third-person mobility ever).
There is some more complexity. Melee jetpack jumping is still a thing, but with more skill, you need a sort of double jump that eats jetpack like nothing and takes reach, then land on a fitting slope to launch. You’ll loose height and it ends when you hit ground, so aiming this well under those conditions feels really good. The longer the jumps the more efficient.
There are also movement upgrades pairing with this you can select. Either just skipping it and going for run speed, or embracing it speccing into the jetpack.
This also makes sure things don’t feel slow anymore down the progression no matter the specifics.
I know I’m wilding but I actually liked the launch game more than what it became. But that says more about what I look for in a game than the quality of NMS. It objectively became a better game than it was at launch, but it pivoted to become more of a crafting and building thing than an exploration game…. And I’ve been done with crafting and building for a long time
For me, I’ve kind of figured out that I love the idea of the game more than the game itself. I played for the first time when the reviews for NMS first started becoming more positive.
On one level I kind of enjoyed it but not enough to keep me coming back regularly. Theres just too much to know when it comes to the knowledge base of the game. Felt like I was spending more time searching how to do everything rather than just playing the game.
I like the variation in planets they’ve added and have always really wanted to like this game. I also like how they added a more casual mode that doesn’t require constant grinding.
The main issue is that it seems like every mission is fly to a planet, land, interact with one of a few things, then leave.
I enjoy the exploration and vibe of the game. Have a ton of hours on it, but I am always left wanting more end game. This is likely a situation where the game doesn’t want to offer what I am looking for, and that’s okay.
I play once a year, or so, to catch up on the updates and have a ton of fun every time.
Every time i tried it i just wandered on the planet i spawned on for hours without making much progress. Last time i tried it i played in VR and i lost my ship in the tutorial and just looked for it for 2 hours going from top of mountains to other top of mountains thinking it should be around here somewhere XD
Its weird I know I shouldn’t but I kind of love NMS. Its such a broad but shallow game but I cant help but spend hours on it. Being able to just jet off to a new system and explore is excellent.
I played it at launch for about 60 hours, haven’t touched it since. I started using reddit to participate in its subreddit in 2016, the hype this game created was crazy.
I’m always a sucker for 3 (Feels like a good in between for what I love in CE and 2 for me personally) and Reach.
But I’m very inclined to agree with the beginning being good. It’s one of the most memorable parts for me about the game, and I’d say franchise as whole
I played a decent number of games this year, and a lot of games that have huge fan bases. God of War 2018, Bloodborne (my first ever soulslike), Baldur’s Gate 3, Disco Elysium, and more. But the one that keeps gnawing at me is Subnautica
I remember when it was in early access I watched Markiplier play it, and it piqued my interest enough that it was the first time I ever bought anything in early access. Which is very unusual for me (I think the only other time I’ve done that was Hades, which was also great). I played through as much of the game as there was at the time, or at least as I could find. Which was still mostly in the safe shallows, no deep areas. Still out in a dozen hours or so and was satisfied given the price so I moved on.
In 2024 i recommended it to my wife, who loves marine biology and base building games. She, in turn loved the game and I watched her play through it. I got to see all of the deep areas. After watching her play it and the DLC I got the itch to go back to it, so I started a new file in late 2024.
By mid-January 2025 I was about halfway through that file. My wife visiting her friend in another city, so I had the house to myself, I think I took some PTO too. Single-digit temperatures Farenheit outside. My wife had taken our only car, so I was loaded up with plenty of weed, drinks, food, and snacks. So I had a few days to focus and finish that first file. I had such a great time I did something else I almost never do: I immediately started a new file to play it again. While I had so much fun, I also learned so much and had so many ideas of what I could have done better. Better places to build based, exploring in a different order, knowing all the great spots to farm resources and get blueprints and everything.
So I played through again. The soundtrack is phenomenal synthwave that perfectly suits the game, but by the time I had built my cyclops and was ready to plunge down into the depths I was also ready for a new soundtrack. I put on one of my favorite albums, which is also one of the most appropriate: Oceanic, by Isis.
I strongly recommend this to anyone who likes Isis or Subnautica. Just absolutely sublime. It’s like peanut butter and chocolate.
Definitely my long and exciting Sliksong playthrough. I spent 137 hours (enjoying almost every minute), and got 98% without guides. Quite proud of myself. I’m so obsessed by the game and it’s universe I cannot move on and still replaying it.
Also, in Spring i reached master rank in Street Fighter 6 maining Manon
Void Stranger, all of the ways it fucks with you even up to the end made it very memorable. The catharsis of finally getting it, and turning insurmountable challenges into not even a bump in the road was incredible. Place your faith in the void and jump in blind.
Dispatch - I’ve been having a blast playing this. It’s my first time playing a game thats more of an interactive TV show but I love the writing and the characters.
I’ve been trying to get into a bunch of games this year but I keep losing motivation super quickly. The only other game I’ve managed to finish is Pico Park 2 in coop.
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