Just finished Stray. Yes, I got it because you play as a cat (who was created with great detail), but it also has solid storytelling, world building, and level design.
I loved Stray. Played it before I got cats, now I need to replay it.
I love how the cat just falls over when they first get vested up. Cause silly cat!
Twin found a game for us to play, Luma Island Pirates. It’s been going well. We’ve been playing in casual though. If the other modes use energy, I can understand the complaints of it being a grindfest.
We got a pirate pig though so that’s cool.
I’ve been playing Graveyard Keeper by myself because single player. Otherwise we’d play together. I just missed the dlc being on sale, and our credit cards haaate gamebillet, so I got one dlc full price and will wait for the others.
The Lego Marvel games. If you squint, there’s almost a bit of a trilogy going on there, even though one of the games is about the MCU Avengers.
Star Ruler 2. If you choose a map with ~450 systems, it plays more like a space economic strategy game, as opposed to the RTS/4X hybrid of the default map settings.
Cyberpunk 2077
My new playthrough is slowly progressing. Just finished act 1 as I was focusing on “easier” jobs (fit to role-playing my current character) and simply enjoying the city.
I haven’t stumbled upon any difficulty spikes that would make me question what I’m doing which is a positive sign. We’ll see how things go now that I got to the “real game”.Before I jump into the proper playthrough however I still have a little bit of a set up to perform - purely role-playing adjacent things, not something affecting the game story or anything like that. That’s actually the more interesting part of playing RPGs for me and the reason why I rarely bother with main stories in series like (3D) Fallout or The Elder Scrolls. Playing a hero is neat by cosplaying as a normal part of the world is way more interesting for me.
Halo: Reach
I didn’t expect to play this any time soon but since I managed to catch The Master Chief Collection on a 75% sale I decided to pull the trigger. Why Reach? I wanted to play the games in chronological order, simple as that. Well… mostly, as I won’t be pausing H2 for ODST for example. Still, the core idea is there.
Game holds up really well both graphically and in terms of gameplay. I do think the space flight missions were some of the worst gameplay segments I played in years but other than that it’s great.
I wish I went into the story completely blind but even despite that it manages to convey the emotions really well. One thing I forgot about (and really appreciate) is the ability to customise your Noble 6 - it’s a small thing but it does a lot to make the character feel mine. It also makes me wish future Halo games moved away from the Master Chief and focused on other, less exceptional characters. There’s so much potential for drama, tension and even horror like segments if only we got to see the world from the eyes of normal(ish) people. It could be neat.
I just think that MC really limits the storytelling potential at this point - with him at the helm devs have to come up with more and more out there reasons for yet another world ending catastrophe instead of writing more human and personal tales. That’s just something I’m personally interested in though, I’m not sure if the general public would be interested in this kind of Halo game.Halo: Combat Evolved
I played the original PC release years ago so I expected this to be mostly a refresher - boy was it. I completely forgot A LOT of the actual levels (except for caves not being a natural formation) so it feels more like a new experience than expected.
I feel like they did a pretty good job upgrading the graphics for this title, I keep switching between the two modes and while the OG art looks neat, it’s also pretty freaking dark and drab a lot of the time (in a bad way).
Difficulty wise the game feels a bit harder than Reach, despite playing both games on Heroic difficulty - I think some of it has to do with absolute trash enemy spawn points (so many spawns right behind you, in places that were empty when checked, it’s not even funny) but I’m not going to use it as an excuse for all of my problems. I also have harder time trying to keep an eye on my HP by that’s just general mind goblins making me distracted rather than game’s fault.
It’s still really fun overall, but I do have two things I’m not too fond of. The first one are the long sections of the same corridors (as in literally copy and pasted sections with minimal adjustments) on certain maps. They actually remind me of ONI, another Bungie title from that era. I won’t say Halo didn’t improve on that aspect but some parts are almost just as big and empty as the ones in that game, making them the worst part of the experience.
The second “issue” are the 343 Guilt Sparks videos you can find hidden on each level - I understand their purpose but I don’t find them particularly interesting to watch. Marathon (I think?) data pads from Reach were much cooler, even if I found them to be a bit difficult to parse at times - there’s something about how they’re written that just shuts down my brain so I end up having to read some of them multiple times before things click.Last but not least: the flood. I remember this level being pretty unnerving in the past but playing it now I can’t help but see them as easily kiteable silly little goobers. There was zero tension this time, only routine. Oh well.
Playing Reach Forge mode with a friend of mine is one of my fondest gaming memories. We would spend hours and hours building bases and then killing each other, or playing community made race tracks or parkour maps. I’d do anything to go back to that time. Ah well.
A couple years ago a (different) friend of mine and myself started doing the whole series campaigns on legendary. We only got through CE and most of 2 before life got in the way but hopefully we’ll be able to go back and continue someday. I don’t play much Halo solo but it’s probably my favourite game to play with a friend.
I’m sure playing these games in co-op must be a fun experience. None of my friends are interested in Halo so I probably won’t get to try it any time soon but it’s fine - this go through all of the MCC games was always planned as a solo adventure as I prefer to explore and take my time, especially with things I never played before.
Fair enough. I have so many hours in the Halo franchise I couldn’t even guess. I don’t think the original Xbox counted hours, but even still I lost that account years ago so I can’t check for 3 or Reach anyway.
If you play through the whole series and end up finding someone to co-op with, I’d highly recommend it. If you’re down to do legendary, it’s a great time, but Halo 2 on legendary is basically unfair in its difficulty, just a warning. Sniper jackels take you out in one shot and their detection is insane. I won’t play Halo 2 legendary solo anymore for that reason. I did it once, never again. But co-op is a great time legendary.
Most of my experience with Halo comes from the first game and some of the books, I was never part of the craze during the heyday era. Guess I’m finally catching up with the games I’m interested in (and 4).
I’m mostly planning to stick with Heroic + skulls for now but thanks for the warning, I’ll keep that in mind. I feel like this is a good enough spot for me though I’m not sure I’d go for legendary solo run anyway (does difficulty scale in co-op?). Besides, I have my Cyberpunk playthrough to serve the role of a “torture machine” at the moment, I don’t think I’m ready to go for multiple experiments like this at the same time.
I don’t think difficulty inherently scales with co-op, but for whatever reason, only in Halo 2, if one person dies you restart the checkpoint. In the other Halo campaigns, as long as at least one person from the group is alive you can keep going. Respawning only happens when there’s someone out of combat but you don’t restart the checkpoint unless everyone dies before someone can respawn. Halo 2 has no respawn, which actually makes it harder in some ways. Especially with those snipers. But obviously having a second (or third or fourth) gun to shoot at snipers does also make it easier. It’s a trade off I guess.
It’s interesting when devs changes a relatively minor thing once between multiple titles and don’t standardise it with the rest when re-releasing the whole thing. It makes sense but it always feels a little weird when experiencing the games back to back. Thanks for the info!
There is no game: wrong dimension
Borderlands 2
GTA Online, not sure if I‘d recommend it, but I‘m having fun with friends since I’ve never done the heists before and not having to play in toxic pub lobbies anymore is a boon
No Rest for the Wicked
It’s better than I expected, but since it’s not really an arpg (PoE, LE, GD, etc.) or a crazy action game either, I’m starting to wonder why I would keep playing it over my beloved Nioh 2. I guess the amazing visuals, neat base building and slight verticality are a plus, but if I look at the combat alone, it’s very good and fun, but I hear Nioh 2 calling.
WAY better game that I expected tho, revoews have not been kind to it in the past.
Elec Head. It’s a puzzle platformer that exemplifies the best design philosophies of puzzle games. It has only a few mechanics but explores them deeply.
It’s a short game. I finished the core game in only a few hours but there are still collectibles that require clever usage of the mechanics.
I actually got it because it was cheap in a bundle with the dev’s newer game, Öoo, which I tried during a recent Steam Next Fest.
I just finished (rolled the credits) Death Stranding last night after right around 100 hours play time. I wasn’t so sure about it going in but the gameplay loop of delivering packages really hit well with me. I thought the random boss encounters were a bit clunky but luckily they were pretty easy. I’m guessing that was by design since it’s not really a combat game overall. The story is confusing as hell and I’ll probably spend some hours watching YouTube videos trying to understand what happened.
I may end up going back to do more road building and stuff in Death Stranding but I’ll be starting RE Village tonight for my “Spooktober” game. I love the rest of the series and finally picked this one up on a recent sale so I’m excited to get into it.
Getting back into Sea of Stars. Just unlocked the graplu, so that’s cool.
