Definitely good to know. I don’t think I’d call it one of the best I’ve ever played but it was certainly awesome as pieces started clicking into place and I could see the outline of how it would go. I’m curious to see what else is really in there (I’ve spoiled some bits and pieces to it) and may go down that path. Thank you!
Called it quits on Blue Prince last week. 20-30h in and I hit the main goal of the game of reaching the 46th room. I started scratching at some of the deeper puzzles and mysteries to solve but I think the combination of some frustrating mechanics (drafting the right rooms, running out of resources, etc…) along with time being a premium, I had to stop myself. I just realized my excitement for “one more run” just wasn’t there and rather than sour my opinion on it, it was better to move on and appreciate the depth that’s there for people getting into it. Super impressed by everything that I’ve seen in it and definitely recommended if you’re a fan of puzzles and taking notes to piece a lot of things together.
And on what feels like the other end of the spectrum, I started Skin Deep and am having a blast. It’s such a weird, stylistic immersive sim where you’re rescuing these low-polygon cats from pirates taking over their spaceship. The humor is good and the systems interact really well. Everything telegraphs what it can do, how it can be used, and the game seems to reward experimentation. I’m trying to be stealthy but there’s no penalty to breaking stealth, and some rewarding per-mission objectives that encourage you to check everything out.
You also get to flush heads down toilets which is pretty cool (and definitely something missing from Blue Prince)
Nearing the end of the non-DLC portion of Pokemon Scarlet. I’m trying to finish my Pokedex before I jump to the DLC here and just have a little bit more focused breeding/leveling up the babies before I’m all set. I forgot how much fun a mainline Pokemon game is as it’s taken up a lot of free time as I get towards the end. I do think this has been one of the better entries and the technical issues, while present, are nowhere near game breaking from what I’ve experienced.
The open world was a little daunting at first. They give you three “quest lines” you can follow right out of the gate and I was initially stuck trying to figure out where to go and what to do, especially since two of the quest lines are literally in two different directions. The region is basically a big circle/clock face. You start at 6:00 and the first things you can do when the game opens up are at 4:00 and 8:00. Once I got the hang of the travel down it was a lot easier to do, but they throw a lot at you to start.
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.
I think it’s fair to say I’m more patient than I was. Having kids has slowed me down on playing games constantly, but I’ve also drifted towards more indie games and away from big tentpole $60-$70 releases. Some games will be a day one purchase based on enjoying their past work(s), like Tactical Breach Wizards and Steamworld Heist 2, and the cost barrier ends up lower. The last time I went for the big AAA game on or close to launch was Hogwarts Legacy, and that was mostly for the wife since she loves all things Harry Potter.
With the sheer amount of games being released and being able to find just about anything you could want, there’s not really a need to be in on the hotness. There are plenty of games to enjoy while those other ones get cheaper and cheaper. The launch day excitement/rush of discovery is always nice though and I do wish there was some kind of a “book club but for games” where a group could go in and have a fresh experience with a game that’s already released.
Satisfactory. It hit 1.0 about a month ago and I’ve been chipping away at a new world. It is so satisfying to build a working factory and figuring out the right input rate for your resources…it just feels so zen like.
I’m also weirdly feeling an itch to purchase and get into either Pokemon Scarlet or Violet. I can’t explain it, but I’ve apparently crossed the threshold of holding off and it just keeps floating around in my head.
I think it’s fair to say that I would remember SOME things that took a lot longer to figure out the first time, but the specifics are gone that I still could not finish the game outright if I reinstalled it right now.
Also I’ve had two kids since it first came out and my memory is shot so that helps too!
Agreed. I’ve played the game twice, once when it came out and the second when the DLC came out. Fortunately enough time passes, you can easily forget the puzzle solutions and just lose yourself in the world again.
Hmm…440 hours on Steam…probably another 125 on the Switch…
I love this game. It’s so cozy and comfortable. I found SDV after my divorce just when it had originally released and I was drawn into the cute world and how much character oozes from every corner. Every person you meet has something going on or you can just be a weird hermit building out your farm in peace. There’s enough of a story to propel you forward but never overbearing and it gets out of the way when it’s “done”.
As time has gone on from my first playthrough, I’ll typically dive back in when the itch strikes or a new content update comes along. The last few playthroughs I’ve done a lot to mod the game and introduce new things into the world to discover, some of which just feels indistinguishable from the official content and others that just help reduce barriers that I want to skip over (like fishing).
Stardew Valley is a game I will likely always go back to. I’m sure it will eventually eclipse my current most played game (Team Fortress 2 @ ~800 hours). I’ve tried other games like it and while they’re fun, none seem to have the staying power that Stardew has over me. While I will absolutely check out his next game, I’m hoping Stardew Valley never really stops being updated over the years.
I think original Sims made the biggest impact on me since I probably played that one the most. Our PC couldn’t handle The Sims 2 when it came out, and I only tangentially tried 3 and 4. Mostly enough to build a cool house and spend a few days with the Sims I created. Sims 1 I probably poured a ton of hours into it.
One thing I did discover and never fully completed in the later games was trying to do some sort of haunted house family. As in, have someone move in and intentionally die in a way that created a new color of ghost. Get all of the different ghost colors in one house/lot then move a normal family in. I don’t think it really mattered in any way, I just loved the idea of a regular family cohabitating with a rainbow of ghosts.
There’s something both so unique and also so simple to the Sims that I’m surprised it’s taken this long for folks to try and “go for it” the way Cities:Skylines went for Sim City. Like, you have to craft interesting stories within the game but you don’t need to wholecloth invent a galactic empire/fantasy world/etc…you can broadly look at our world and copy/paste for inspiration. With Paralives and Life By You “coming soon” in some fashion, there’s going to be some interesting competition here.
We just had our second kid so any games have to basically be on the phone right now. Luckily, someone mentioned Wildfrost in the same breath as Slay the Spire and it has been awesome to play while holding the little one.
It’s a card/deck builder rogue like, but you’re deploying units into one of two lanes and positioning them for maximum effect. Each unit counts down until it attacks, but you have a handful of cards to directly attack as well. You run until you fight the final boss, unlock more stuff along the way, etc…it’s been a blast. The art style is cute (how big can Yuki’s snowball get? Try and find out!) and I love the soundtrack.
On iOS at least, the game is free to download and try out before purchasing (think it was $7). If you like Slay the Spire and similar games, well worth looking into!
Seconding the Secretlab chair. For someone who works from home and would play PC games at the exact same desk when work ended, it made sense to invest in a chair beyond my $30 IKEA one and has held up pretty well over the last several years.
I put about 30h into Valheim and this feels like it will play out a similar way. I’ll have a blast for a concentrated time, maybe play with a friend or two, then find something else. I thought the mishmash of realistic world and cute cartoony monsters would clash but it’s working for me. Just starting to see the loop of automation and what to look for in a second base. It has a charming amount of jank attached to it.
I spent most of my time yesterday rebuilding my base after one of those grass elephants attacked us for no obvious reason, then a bunch of WAY higher level Relaxasaurus raided alongside the elephant and burned my base down.
It’s also not necessarily easier, but more understandable, for roles such as HR, marketing, etc…yes, it’s still someone’s job but one company probably doesn’t need two HR teams worth of people and cuts accordingly.
Message being that everyone should have their head on a swivel during a merger and that goes double for those jobs that provide day-to-day business support to keep things running.
Re: Outer Wilds, either console or Steam is fine but I would recommend a controller in either case. The flight mechanics can be a little tricky with a keyboard and mouse, but I had no issues getting it with a controller.