I’m in a bit of a down period as STALKER 2 is coming out soon so I don’t want to pick up a new story campaign from my backlog in the meantime (Metro: Exodus, Bioshock Infinite and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided are on the docket) in case I’m not finished in time for release day.
Still playing lots of Deadlock, but for a single player story game I’ve gone back to some bits of RDR 2 when I’m not in the competitive mood. I started it earlier this year but abandoned it as I burnt out on it a bit. Coming back to it has been a very mixed experience, there is still so much about it I love - but also some very deep frustrations. And absence hasn’t really made the heart grow fonder in that regard. I don’t really like the mission structure. I know it’s been brought up by others, but I too seem to be among those who are bothered by it. I also find the sheer body count forced on you through main story missions to be so ludicrous as to regularly ruin my immersion. I’m not even that far in and I’ve already basically committed genocide levels of murder! And then the mission is over and nobody is talking about the massacre of hundreds of lawmen?
The only real qualm I have is the lack of Ukrainian and Russian accents on the English dub. I don’t really understand the thought process as I felt like it added a lot of character and immersion to both the originals and to the Metro games.
Otherwise I’m optimistic, I think the game looks good and they’ve been saying all the right things. Game journalists who have played it also report things that make me feel very hopeful, both in terms of micro gameplay (atmosphere, tension and isolation without reliance on jump scares) and macro gameplay (decisions mattering, branching stories and factions).
I pre-ordered the ultimate edition regardless to support the studio after the horrors they’ve survived over the war, including losing colleagues to the frontline.
The lack of accent is an odd choice, I agree! Maybe they went the Chernobyl route (fitting) where they let the voice actors use their regular voices so they wouldn’t have to be faking an accent the whole time? I thought it worked well there. Thanks for the rundown, might have to preorder it!
Bought it on a whim and really enjoyed it. Kond of docked around to survive and upgrade now gotta run back and do those level based tasks I over looked originally.
50s here. I’ve had that too. Sometimes due to low mental health, but often just a change in interests. Gaming is one hobby I’ve kept coming back to since the early 1980s, and overall it’s pretty constant. Other hobbies have come and gone - I think it helps to have a variety of things to spend your time doing, rather than one big one.
What isn’t constant is the type of games. FPS used to be amazing, but now I get motion sickness with many, including some third person games. Also my reactions are slower with age, so online is often frustrating. I adapt by playing more cosy and strategy games. Factorio Space Age currently taking a lot of my time, but I’ve a few that I keep going back to.
Yes, but indie games helped fix that. Dunno how deep you’ve gotten into indie games, but here’s a list of them to try:
Cruelty Squad (it is unironically one of the best games I’ve ever played. Give it a chance, it’ll grow on you)
Balatro
Buckshot Roulette
WEBFISHING
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (++if you enjoyed Jet Set Radio (Future))
Abiotic Factor
Lethal Company (I personally wasn’t a fan, but I can see the appeal; I would be more into it if there was more random junk to pick up)
Hypnospace Outlaw
Factorio (just released an expansion! Also don’t wait for sales, you’ll be waiting forever)
Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley (edit: forgot to mention that this is basically “be gay, do crimes: the game”. It’s short so I highly recommend 100% it, but it’s also good).
Hylics 1 & 2
The Long Drive (looks like YouTube bait, and it kinda is, but it’s also the best driving game I’ve ever seen. Literally you, a car and 5000km of road. Any engine can go into any vehicle, so yes, you can put a bus engine on a moped. I love it. There haven’t been any big updates lately though because the dev is rewriting the game to fix spaghetti code).
QT (cutesy PT parody that’s all about secret hunting. Also has two extra levels with more secrets. It’s kinda like i-spy but in first-person 3d)
Voices of the Void (I adore this game, it’s a sci-fi pseudo-horror game styled after some weird mix of gmod and Half-Life. The premise is that you’re a researcher who’s been shipped off to a radio telescope array, alone. Your goal is to search the sky for signals and learn more about the cosmos. It takes itself just seriously enough and has lots of secrets and surprises to find.)
Snufkin undoing the cops’ expansionism on natives’ land is rad. Game is short, has it’s downsides as per forum threads about difficult run sequence and being kinda lost on the remote island, but it’s good for everyone who doesn’t even know about moomins, ages 5-99. It’s highlight are watercolor-stylized graphics making the picture look very pretty and good writing, albeit about simple things.
Oh yeah, the game is short so I highly recommend 100% it. I think I took 6ish hours to play the entire thing, and I think I missed a side quest. But yeah, the game is basically “be gay, do crimes: the game”.
I finally cracked into Phase 4 of Satisfactory when I haven’t been able to do that before, so I’m enjoying seeing some new things but also feeling a bit analysis paralysis on where to go/what to focus on. Currently trying to build a cool sky train that connects my bases. Also working on the Castlevania DLC for VS and doing my best not to just “look up the answers” to all the new content. I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for Castlevania outside of Aria of Sorrow, but I’m enjoying the sheer amount of new stuff they added in.
And lastly, Rise of the Golden Idol came out yesterday and consumed my evening. I loved that first game so much that this was a no-brainer.
Boredom is your brain urging you too change your behavior. The magic of gaming will return if you take a nice break and focus on yourself and other things. At least it works that way for me.
As others have said loss of interest can happen and the interest can of course come back with a vengeance. I’d recommend picking up another hobby until gaming suddenly grasps your interest again.
Two types of hobbies that have lasting positive impacts on people are creative hobbies and physical hobbies. Your brain is wired to invent and create and your body is wired to move, so being able to do each for fun is brilliant for your mental and physical health. Hop on a bicycle, go for a walk and enjoy the crisp fall air, stop off at that gym you forgot to cancel your membership for, and start doing it regularly.
For creative hobbies you can get a pack of printer paper for a couple of bucks and a pack of Crayola crayons or colored pencils and just start doodling. If you suck at drawing make wierd geometric shapes to rebuild the fine motor skills that computers have killed. Or if you want something more in-depth model making is always great because it has elements of fantasy while having entry points at any skill level. Personally I’ve been getting back into model railroading which if that seems boring to watch a train go around in circles, consider it has its own table top roleplay scene in the form of operations
The YouTube channel Stop Skeletons From Fighting made an entertaining and informative series of videos on the Zeebo and its games. Definitely recommend it.
Got addicted to AudioSurf 2 over the weekend. Have a small handful of songs on microSD on deck and it’s pretty fun. Otherwise, did some Shotgun King and not much else besides Shattered Pixel Dungeon on my phone. This quarter of college has kinda drained me because of 2 freaking classes I hate.
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Aktywne