Yay this is so cool, and I appreciate the well-thought out “PEAQ”! Games as a medium need all the archive help they can get. My only crit is that, because this is a “history”, I would prefer a chronological list over an alphabetical list. Maybe Dot is working on making that an option, idk, but I appreciate the work all the same!
EDIT: Some Highlights for me:
I appreciate the “H-rry P-tt-r” choice.
This is my first time hearing about that hidden track on Guitar Hero.
I did not know that one of the original Pokemon VAs was a trans lady!! Sososo cool
AND she did a bunch of deeper voices in the Sonic games? Wtf she is so talented!!
The Wolfenstein 3D and Doom drama was an interesting read.
Honestly shocked that I did not know more about Rebecca Heineman and Jenell Jaqauys, given how prolific they are on this list. I am very immersed in games media, far more than the average gamer, and I really had no clue. I think that alone highlights how important this work is!!
Fun to read your detailed thoughts on the series as whole. Literally the only GOW game I have played is the 2018 reboot, and honestly I found it to be really cool and fun! The story ended up being a bit thin by the end, but I thought that it was really engaging and fun the first time through, as you are experiencing it. There were just enough twists and turns that I felt like i never knew exactly what was going to happen next. Even though I never played the OT, the moment where
spoilerKratos goes home and takes the Blades of Chaos out of storage
was HYYYYYPE!!!
As a Dark Souls fan, I also found the slower pace of the combat to be pretty engaging. I played through all of the extra combat trials (idr what they are called) and beat all the Valkyries, so clearly I was enjoying myself. I liked all of the build options they give you with the loot and abilities. I remember beating my head against a few of the trials before realizing that a build overhaul made the trial trivial. Making builds is one of my favorite experiences in games, so I really appreciated this.
I don’t remember my exact feelings about the combat, but I remember my one major criticism was how slow Kratos turns around. They give you that input to do a fast 180, but when you are in a heated fight and you are getting surrounded by enemies, you can forget to tap it with all the other inputs you have to remember. The end result is it can feel like Kratos is resisting you as you try to spin around to hit some enemies behind you.
I know this one is a bit late, but I am hearing buzz about this game but it doesn’t seem like we’ve discussed this one here. “Rocket League without cars” is the tongue-in-cheek description i’ve heard, essentially getting at the idea that this is a soccer/football game with a lot of style that is also more accessible to people that aren’t football nuts.
The GBA SP could not arrive soon enough. Idk how the hell we survived so long on those dim ass screens. Playing outside in broad daylight was the only option.
Capped framerates are so frustrating. Wish they would just use vsync, which would lock to 30 but will jump to 60fps any time the hardware can handle the scene. Maybe it’s not that easy to do in some cases, idk.
It’s okay, don’t feel bad! This is the kind of political decision where I don’t fault anyone for making either choice. Boycotting Russia is noble, but so is supporting devs for making amazing games!
it’s not hard to imagine why a ban on conversion therapy is gaining signatures while a ban on killing live service games is not. Stop Killing Games is noble, but ultimately amounts to media preservation. Meanwhile, conversion therapy is literal torture of vulnerable children. Only hardcore gamers really understand the Stop Killing Games initiative, while most sane people will quickly sign anything that improves the lives of children.
seems really cool! I like the flexible interpretation of the “point buy” system that tabletop wargames use.
Developer Steel Balalaika is based in Russia.
Not so fond of putting any money into Russia’s tax base, though. No shade to the devs who are probably cool people, I just struggle with making this kind of choice in our shitty modern world 😔