I was always curious about the Playdate because Lucas Pope made a game for it and he’s a genius, but I never really could see myself justifying the massive price tag for what it is.
Also I hope you’re feeling better! It made me so happy to see a post from you again as I’ve missed seeing you around. Hope your health is improving ♥️
I definitely am a victim of over purchasing during deep sales and building an insurmountable backlog, but there is also something kind of nice about having a library waiting to browse after each game just waiting to install.
Regardless though, what I really wanted to say was: I’m seconding interest in your Python app, that sounds very useful actually!
I tried to watch some gameplay footage of it earlier this year as a Let’s Player I watch played it but couldn’t stand it. I concluded the game probably just wasn’t meant for me, but it’s possible it just isn’t good. It looked incredibly boring.
Still working on Ninja Gaiden 2 (Xbox 360 version, emulated on Xenia Canary). I’m currently halfway through Chapter 12 out of 14 on Path of the Warrior, so I’m almost at the point where I can see the finish line. Still unsure whether I can beat it as I’ve heard the final stretch is pure hell.
I have never played a game that made me feel quite like this, I have to be honest. It’s one of the best and one of the worst games I’ve ever played simultaneously. If this was released today it would be absolutely lambasted for its blatantly untested, horrifically balanced and absurdly unfun encounters.
And it’s such a shame and a waste because the pieces are all there for a spectacular tour de force of an action game and you can see that side of it shine through from time to time. Whenever the game clicks and is good, it’s fucking incredible. Lightning fast, blood and limbs flying everywhere, incredible animations and brutal execution moves as you’re zipping through combat and weaving through combos. They really had the fundamentals here for something special, and the first half of the game is mostly good - albeit still with some complete garbage like Gigadeath sprinkled in.
From around the halfway point on though it’s become perhaps the most infuriating game I’ve ever played. Some of the gameplay design is just completely incomprehensible and encounters devolve into being spammed with projectiles from offsceen while you’re showered in constant explosions that deafen you and make you unable to see shit while you’re stunlocked to death unless you ignore using your combos and instead just abuse i-frames. Boss fights like the Double Armadillo I just finished feel like a straight up “fuck you” from Itagaki. Time and again I finish a fight and say “who the fuck thought this was a good idea?” out loud.
And the worst part is I’m developing such a Stockholm Syndrome I’m already looking at Ninja Gaiden 2 Black prices.
Looks like a cool game, but considering how many reviewers bring up complaints about the platforming I think I’m going to steer clear to protect my sanity.
I don’t think it will suck. It will just be “more Hollow Knight” - which is perfectly fine and what people should have been expecting. Don’t think it will live up to the irrational hype though unless it’s literally the best game ever made.
Oh yes, for sure! That’s what I tend to tell people whose first Soulslike is Elden Ring: Dark Souls 1’s bosses will feel very underwhelming in comparison but the areas themselves will be equally or more challenging.
Though the DLC does have a couple of fun bosses. Make sure you look up how to enter it, it’s not something you’d stumble on naturally. Also you have to do it before the final boss, unlike later games NG+ starts automatically upon defeating the final boss.
I still think Dark Souls 1 is more accessible than Elden Ring. Yes, ER offers more and better tools - like the aforementioned spirit ashes - but the complexity and demands of the boss fights are still much harder I would say.
Though it’s mainly multiple story-heavy games at once I couldn’t do myself I think. Jumping back and forth between Minecraft and Halo and Mario Kart and what have you feels slightly different.
It’s more about the aesthetic, I really enjoyed when it was the weird modern/ancient mix they were going with before rather than this actual cyberpunk.
I’m playing through Ninja Gaiden 2 (X360) at the moment partly in preparation for this release. NG4 looks so fucking different but still - I think - promising. I’m not sure what I think about the full cyberpunk aesthetic but who plays these games for the story anyway? Combat looks vicious, fast and brutal and even though it looks very different from the old games it still looks good I think.