600 hours and counting. The space age expansion basically quadrupled the content, and is the first time I’ve played the game 100% vanilla with no mods in probably 10 years. Great times.
I asked why, and they said in the worst case some people would steal them. Maybe they just kept them or “lost” them, or they returned the cases without the game. With something like the Nintendo chips the theft would be obvious, but a couple of disk style ones had labels forged too. A stupid crime, given the last borrower would simply be fined.
On average though, there were a lot of difficulties keeping them in working order. Apparently they were reported non-functional more than DVDs, and despite a contract with a cleaning and restoration company still had a high failure rate requiring frequent replacement. Which is really kinda funny given how 90% of the time the disk is just a DRM token for an online download, shouldn’t be that susceptible to failure from minor damage…
Anyway between these costs and an analysis that physical game media was on the way out the door(probably mostly the costs), the program was discontinued and you can’t borrow games around here anymore.
They’re both going to be dead in less than like 2 years because they are both PvEvP Extraction Looter Shooters. Combining the top 10 playercounts on Steam in this genre adds up to only like 10k more than the peak player count of Helldivers 2, which is a PvE Extraction Shooter. This genre of game, without a PvE only mode, is dead. Its only good for streamers and content creators, because it is fun to watch someone crash out after losing gear they grinded to get for 50+ hours, but the viewers don’t want to play the game because feeling that themselves is not fun.
This genre of games is basically a wet dream for toxic people. Because the PvP players know that the PvE players dont want to fight them, and take advantage of that to camp, grief, etc. What other genre of game rewards a player intentionally ruining someone else’s gaming experience?
I am grateful the toxic sponge exists so I dont have to deal with those players in other games, but these development studios keeps trying to make this genre popular, and it literally can never be popular.
Celeste is one of my favorite games period, and it qualifies. The gameplay parallels the story better than any other game I’ve ever played or seen played, and the soundtrack, art, and characters are amazing. Top tier gameplay and a great story to go with it.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for absolutely unhinged strange gameplay made by a programmer rather than a game designer, check out Fractal Block World. It’s pretty fascinating!
Cave Story really isn’t a metroidvania. The path splits at points, but there’s very little choice where to explore. It’s just a platformer action shooter.
My favorite metroidvania has to be Aquaria. Vibes of the game are on point. The story is great for a game in that genre, and the traversal and combat are unique and tons of fun. Soundtrack is phenomenal.
Check out Gato Roboto if you want a metroidvania similar to Cave Story!
The OG. The fact it was all done by a single dude blows my mind. People often praise Toby Fox for the same reason, and he definitely deserves it, but he wasn’t good at programming. Pixel was good at everything: programming, music, writing, and art.
Banished, you can’t get more Indie than just one guy’s passion project.
I don’t know what it is about that game but it really struck a chord with me and I’ve come back to it over and over. It’s my favorite game to play when I’m sick and can’t do anything. It’s relaxing and peaceful and cozy while also being complex and ruthlessly challenging at the same time, so it’s like spinning plates. Seems easy when you get the hang of it but it can all come crashing down if you make a bad enough mistake. It’s spawned some copy cats, and I’ve tried them, but the original just gets me somehow.
Me! They have a decent collection of Switch games and my wife will try out the games she's seen reviews of at the library to see if she wants to add them to her wishlist.
Our library network is rather large so there's often an available copy of whatever we're looking for (unless it's new).
bin.pol.social
Aktywne