Coelacanth

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Here is where I was surprised. My second case the game makes me choose. Between placing Blame, Ascend or Descend the spirit and its most loved one. That shapes the game for you each case choice matters in the end.

What I want to know is: are the choices actually interesting, though? For so many games with choices like this they aren’t really choices. It’s just “do the right thing and get the good ending or don’t and get the bad ending”.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Can’t wait for the next serving of incomprehensible nonsense from the Nomura-Najima dream team…

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Give us one last proper Splinter Cell send-off while Michael Ironside is still alive, you cowards. A “final job” with a retiring Sam Fisher would be an amazing setup for a game. Not that I trust Ubisoft to pull it off, mind. But we can dream.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

I thought he beat cancer and was back to acting? He couldn’t do Sam Fisher in his prime anymore, but maybe an old Sam on his last legs? Though I guess the clock is ticking even for that.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu (edited miesiąc temu)

(…) or the long-expected Dark Souls 3 remaster.

…heh? I mean I’ll take it but, DS3 doesn’t really need a remaster does it? Still looks great, still plays great… why? A Dark Souls 1 full remake on the other hand would be very interesting. Keep the level design, fresh coat of paint, revamp and modernize the bosses and go back and re-do some of the trash endgame areas that they just threw together on a time crunch like Demon Ruins/Lost Izalith. That would be an interesting project.

Though if we disregard the F-games apparently being Dark Souls or Armoured Core traditionally I will dream about this upcoming title being a new Tenchu game.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

They are also extremely good at re-using assets.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

It’s not really the same, but it can be enjoyable in its own way. I watch a lot of Let’s Plays, but I tend to do so mostly for games I’ve already played myself, substituting it for a second playthrough. You can watch it mostly in the background - or skip through the filler - and still get another’s perspective on the best bits.

It’s also perfectly valid to watch playthroughs for games you are interested in experiencing but would not enjoy yourself. Very difficult games like Hollow Knight are a common example for this. It will give you an approximation without driving you to frustration - or getting stuck and unable to finish.

It’s never going to be the same though since the interactive element will be missing, and that aspect is the defining feature of games as an artform.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Absolutely, just keep in mind one thing: try to find Let’s Players who take things slow and pay attention to the story. It makes a huge difference.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

If you like V you might not like VI. Probably more likely to enjoy the Vox Populi mod if you want something fresh.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

That it is. Might as well, right?

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

It’s been fun to follow this past year! You’ve been through some bangers, I have an equal love for the Alan Wake games and the New Vegas DLCs are some of the best in gaming imo.

It’s been a very pleasant and cozy daily routine to read, even though I admit I am more interested whenever you’re playing something new and giving your insights and first impressions.

Regardless though these posts have been a fixture of Lemmy I appreciate, so thank you for your persistence!

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

We’ve been in an indie game boom for a while, so you should have a pretty huge variety of amazing titles to choose from. I’ve been mixing in indies with Patient Gaming of older AAA/big name titles and having a blast.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

What type of game are you looking for?

Just yesterday I played through GRIS, which was an absolutely amazing experience (though short). An interactive artwork of a journey through grief. Definitely recommend it as a short in-between game. The same developers released Neva last year, which was also very well reviewed.

Before that I played Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree, which is a Soulslike Metroidvania with a PoE style skill tree. Really liked that one, the story was so-so but it has really good gameplay and super fun character customization. Good exploration, lots of secrets and i enjoyed the world as well. Looks pretty, too.

Blue Prince from earlier this year is a phenomenal game if you like escape room type puzzles. It’s an incredibly clever idea - a puzzle roguelite - and I had a great time with it. Gorgeous OST too. Definitely worth checking out, though be warned - taking hundreds of screenshots and 60+ pages of physical notes is almost required.

Earlier this year I played Skald: Against the Black Priory and I have a great amount of fondness for that game. A faux-retro RPG that pays tribute to late 80s style CRPGs it hit just right with me and ended up being my favourite RPG in a while. It’s fairly limited in scope, instead focusing on doing a few things well, and I think it really works out well for it. Beautiful music, great pixel art, great story. Also has some nice CRT emulation filters in the settings!

Which speaking of, right now I’m playing Blasphemous, which is another title with CRT emulation filters. It’s basically 2D Dark Souls but with more platforming. I have mixed feelings about the gameplay (I hate platformers) but the world building, story and lore are all immaculate and super cool.

Lastly, even though it’s in that not-quite-indie AA space you should play Claire Obscur: Expedition 33. Yes, it is actually that good, and much like when Elden Ring or BG3 released it’s kind of “required reading” to understand the zeitgeist.

But all of this is just my recent experiences off the top of my head, the list really does go on and on and on.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

That’s the best thing to do with Clair Obscur. Don’t even watch a trailer, just play it. I bought it full price, but liked it so much I subsequently upgraded to the Deluxe Edition just because I wanted to support the devs.

Skald was a really great, concise experience that really worked for me. If you like a bit of Cthulu-esque cosmic horror you’ll enjoy the world building I think. I finished it in about 20h I think, and it was very nicely paced. No filler or grinding, just a flowing story. Definitely an indie positive surprise hit.

There are tons more indie darlings though depending on what genre you’re looking for. Tactical Breach Wizards, Vampire Survivors and Balatro are just a couple that are all very different from the ones I already listed.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Those are some insane review scores. Then again Nintendo flagship titles almost always review well.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Any game that allows for a significant amount of visual customisation should have some sort of transmog system. Having to look like a clown for optimal stats is never a fun or enjoyable gameplay experience, while on the other hand feeling like you look awesome adds so much.

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

Steam is banning porn games!? How will I get my Northernlion Reads Steam Porn Game Reviews content now?

Coelacanth, miesiąc temu

If you want to be optimal you should be looking out for the Green Gear (Witcher Sets). They are all obscenely broken compared to other gear, to the point where they invalidate almost every unique item in the game. It’s one of the things I hate about the game. For the most part, gear is just a matter of picking the Witcher set that matches your build and play style.

There is a unique Steel Sword you can get at the end of Hearts of Stone depending on your choices that is actually quite good due to its unique ability. Definitely good enough to use for all of Blood and Wine. You can also get a unique Silver Sword in B&W that is very good, though it’s a quest reward that can take a while.

New Moon trousers are not bad, and the Nilfgaardian Guardsman Gauntlets are actually insane gloves, so look out for those. You should still use Witcher gear for the other two armour pieces though, for the set bonus.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005) was such a banger.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I just finished Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree today, after having to go to bed last night in the midst of fighting the last boss and coming back fresh today. That second phase definitely took me for a spin, or at least it did my particular build. Maybe a ranged build would have had an easier time. It was still a cool fight though, and that first phase was pretty much perfect.

I had a really good time with this game. The Soulslike Metroidvania with a PoE style skill tree ended up tickling me juuust right. I love theorycrafting and making builds, and it ended up being amazingly fun in this game. There is some interesting synergy you can setup by mixing and matching various classes’ skill trees, and I’m already thinking about a potential second playthrough. Though I’m actually equally tempted by going straight into NG+, as my Chaos daggers build with two teleport skills ended up being super fun to play.

I definitely recommend it, especially if you like these kinds of games. My playtime ended up at just over 40h, though that was with me exploring basically 100% and finding all the optional bosses. Not bad for a €40 game, and if you can get it on sale I’d call it a bargain.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu (edited 2 miesiące temu)

Isn’t Celeste supposed to be rather difficult? Or is that the Ori games? Or both? Regardless, I don’t think I’ll ever play these games sadly as I’m not a god gamer, and I especially suck at platforming. Same reason I don’t think I’ll ever attempt Hollow Knight either.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

How good are these games? Are they worth buying before the delisting just to have them?

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Both look really cool, but I am really not a big platformer guy so I’m unsure. Inside is 90% off on GOG though so might pick it up for a dollar and a half. Limbo is full price and even though it’s just $10 I don’t know that I’d like it enough. How hard is the platforming and the puzzles?

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

The creepy/dark atmosphere is actually the thing that appeals to me about them! It’s the platforming and puzzles I am worried about.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I just played through Pentiment and even on the fastest speed dialogues were painfully slow. It wouldn’t fix all the other pacing issues, but the text popping up instantly would be a huge improvement.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I have very mixed feelings about it. I also adored the art and setting, and I really appreciate the historical research that has gone into making it. And there were some well written characters in there.

But man, the game is sloooooow. The last act in particular was like pulling teeth. Reading is fine when what you’re reading about is interesting. There were so many banal, shallow and uninteresting conversations in there that really tested my patience.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I played for a while and enjoyed it, but eventually it became clear the developers were taking both the story and the gameplay in directions I didn’t like.

Heavensward was a great story, Stormblood patch quests were amazing. Shadowbringers had its very high peaks of course but even there they had started doing things in the story I hated.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

It stopped being a story with unpredictability and actual stakes. There was a time I felt like anyone was at risk, even “main characters”, and it was awesome. It just turned into more of a Sunday morning cartoon - which is fine - it’s just not for me.

I also got sick and tired of them doing the “guess who’s back from the dead?” plotline a bazillion times.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Love your work as always! I hope your health improves soon ♥️

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

What’s your favourite build?

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Finishing up Pentiment probably later today, and it will be nice to have it over and done with. I will appreciate having played it, but I can’t say actually playing it was all that fun. It’s beautiful, it’s well-researched and it has some interesting plots and characters in it but… god damn is it ever slow. Between the laboriously slow and often banal and uninteresting conversations and the lack of fast travel leading to half your playing time being watching your character slowly waddling across Tassing the game feels like an absolute slog to play.

I’ve been breaking up the tedium with https://store.steampowered.com/app/1721060/Mandragora_Whispers_of_the_Witch_Tree/. I’ve had my eye on it as it’s written by Bloodlines-writer Brian Mitsoda, and at 25% off on the summer sale I thought why not.

It’s a Metroidvania Soulslike with a skill tree inspired by Path of Exile, and I’m really liking what I’m seeing so far. The combat has been solid, the build diversity seems great and the bosses have been good. The game is beautiful with a lovely art style and the level design is really good too.

From what I’ve seen so far I recommend checking it out if you like these types of games!

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Nice! I gravitate to DEX builds too as it’s just so nice to have bow access. My favourite stylish build is probably dual wielding the Tracers, but that’s basically NG+ only.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

At least Molyneux has put out some good games. Yeah, they don’t have all the earth shattering features he’s promised, but there’s some good titles in his portfolio. I’m not convinced Star Citizen is a good game.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

That’s fair. As far as I know the same was true for Chris Roberts. Well, it wasn’t so much that he had a publisher that would edit him as it was that he was fired and Microsoft came in and cobbled together what was there into an actual game (Freelancer).

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I have a lifelong friend with Addison’s and it always seemed horrible to have to constantly manage and worry about. And he was fortunate enough to not also have Diabetes!

I adore your posts and will miss them dearly, but please take care of yourself and focus on your health. Don’t push yourself, if I understand right extra stress is particularly bad.

Much love ♥️

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I’m about halfway through Pentiment and I’m not sure what to think of it. There are lots of things I love about it: the art, the characters, the writing (mostly) and the historical research that’s gone into making it. All the running around and back tracking hasn’t been great. The first murder was also very unsatisfying, and it’s only now that I realise that that was the point. And I’m not sure what to think of that. It’s a strange game, with its central message seemingly being how powerless we are in the face of history and how restricted we are in our lives. Or at least people were back then. I’ll probably have to wait until I finish for my full judgement of it though.

I also snagged Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree on the Steam summer sale at 25% off. As a passionate VTM: Bloodlines fan I’ve been waiting for a reason to buy it. I’ve felt obliged to check it out as it was also written by Brian Mitsoda. Plus the game itself looked interesting. I’ve only just started playing it, but I’m enjoying it so far. The writing seems okay (not Bloodlines level) but the presentation is beautiful. I really like the splash art for characters and the cutscenes. It’s a Metroidvania Soulslike with a skill tree inspired by Path of Exile, and I can already tell I’ll have a lot of fun crafting builds here. Probably huge replayability too. The combat has felt solid so far, but I’m only at the beginning.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Classic corridor shooters fill this niche pretty well for me, if that kind of on-rails experience is what you’re looking for. I recently played F.E.A.R. and it’s first expansion Extraction Point (don’t play any later expansions or games in the franchise though) and they’re some of the best, tightest and most satisfying FPSes out there. Metro 2033 is also good for this.

If you want a no-nonsense RPG I want to put in a good word for Skald: Against the Black Priory which is very tight and linear with minimal fluff, focused on telling its story and doing a few things well rather than spreading too thin.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Nightdive have said something along the lines of “just because we made a remaster doesn’t mean we won’t also make a remake”. I’m still holding out hope they will.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I mean, I love Deus Ex but that game could also use a remake if we’re being honest.

That combined with the endless funding faucet shutting off

Oh? I hadn’t heard about this.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I feel like I’m way more critical of Deus Ex than some, but I’m not sure I agree that it doesn’t need mechanical refinements. From gunplay to AI to stealth there is a ton of jank there and I’d hesitate to call any of it modern feeling. Even Warren Spector was aware of this at the time, with that quote about how it’s basically a 7.5/10 FPS, a 7.5/10 stealth game and a 7.5/10 RPG, but its unique selling point is that it’s all those things at once. Personally I think the story, world, atmosphere and concept still hold up incredibly well. The rest could do with modernizing. Not least the voice acting. But I guess with the Mankind Divided sequel being canned I should have limited hopes about a Deus Ex remake getting funding.

The funding bit makes sense, I thought you were referring to something Nightdive-specific, but the post-COVID slump is something we’ve been reading about for some time now. I had hoped SS1 Remake sold enough to merit funding for a full SS2 remake as well, but maybe I need to temper my expectations.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

“Hasn’t improved” is a very polite way of putting it, but wouldn’t “gone to shit” be more accurate?

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

I’m glad you are enjoying it, but I wonder: how much of the enjoyment is inherent to the game and how much is just having a good time with your mates (and would be equally fun in any other co-op game)?

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

It’s a question I ask often in multiplayer titles, because my experience with most of them is that as long as you play with your friends the actual game doesn’t really matter and you could pretty much have a good time goofing off in anything.

There are some exceptions though like Split Fiction.

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Really? I’ve only played Kingmaker but while uneven I thought they had some good ones. I really liked both Jubilost and Nok-Nok, I thought Harrim was a pretty interesting character and Jae’thal was enjoyable too.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Our first data point is Monitors Unboxed. They found the Switch 2 returned an average pixel response time of 33 ms at 60 Hz.

Jesus Christ Nintendo. That’s absolutely horrendous. But on the plus side I’m glad the screen undervolting let you improve the battery life to an impressive *checks notes* two hours!?

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

Signed it ages ago when it first came about, and it’s really sad to see it still hasn’t gotten enough signatures.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu (edited 2 miesiące temu)

Only just started Pentiment. And by that I mean I got through the background selection, and I’m now trying to decide if I’m happy with my choices or want to go with something else. The game looks really good so far, I’ve heard good things and I’m excited to see how it plays out.

Coelacanth, 2 miesiące temu

FromSoft reported sales of Elden Ring increased by over 200% following its GOTY win, if I remember right. It definitely has an impact. I can’t imagine it’s irrelevant in terms of attracting or keeping talent either, and it probably would help maintaining creative integrity and sticking to your vision in talks with investors.