Been playing Boku No Natsuyasumi 2 one in game day per real day the last few days, and it’s been nice and pleasant so far. Think I’m gonna be catching some bugs tomorrow.
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Thankfully there’s still an relatively independent used video game store down the street from me who’s prices are sane except for truly collectable games. I’ll check them out today.
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Whoops. I realize I didn’t share any screenshots from The Thaumaturge. Allow me to recitiy that:
They said the name of the dev!
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Ok last Pseudoregalia post. I’m pretty much on the same page as @MoH about this game. I’m really glad that the game rarely felt like it was getting in its own way except maybe the combat.
This can be remediated by just ignoring the enemies if you can, the game forces very little of it on you. The good shit though is the movement/traversal. This game felt really good to play in every aspect, and doing all of the time trials was by far the highlight. If this game had a “time trial” mode it would be great, I really wish there were more of those, or that it were easier to access them. There’s nothing like getting in the zone with this game, or at least its not a feeling I have often. I should play more of this kind of game because its a flavor of fun I enjoy but rarely indulge in.
The map was useless! If this game wasn’t as fun to move around in I would find the layout of things quite annoying to be frank.
Overall it took me about 10 hours to beat according to Steam. Lately the playtime on my library has been inconsistent so it might be less. Good game! and short!
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I’m just about finished with Bloodborne. I’m at the final boss. “final-ish” from what I understand. I consumed 3 umbilical cords to supposedly unlock the secret ending if I can beat Gehrman. Along the way I abandoned the idea of using the gun at all and went all the way in on hitting stuff with my big axe in every situation. It works and it’s fun dodging and carefully timing my strikes.
Here’s my question for the group: how much should I care about the chalice dungeons? I’ve done most of the flavors of Pthumeru and gotten some sweet bloodgems. And I like that they’ve contextualized grinding with a straight up classic dungeon crawler mode. But is there anything I’m missing out on besides more loot if I leave it alone at this point? Like is there anything spoilerifically interesting you get from trying them all?
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I keep seeing the sentiment about the map, and it’s correct, but I need to highlight that the game would’ve taken me so much longer if there wasn’t a map. It’s like the definitive example of “better than nothing”.
Did no one else constantly struggle to navigate this game? I just never knew where to go next.
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I did! I just brute forced it tbh, I rarely felt like the map was helpful but also I’m a bit impatient I gotta say.
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with respect, i think this was our chief complaint lol!
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Well I’m just glad that I’m not totally directionless.
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It’s a tricky one and it depends on how much you want to explore the game. There are unique bosses in the chalice dungeon that I found worth doing. But it doesn’t impact the main game at all so it depends on what you’re after.
Might worth seeing if there is a friend who might help to ease the chalice dungeon pain?
making good progress in madhouse (re7 for clarity), finished both jack fights and now the boss i hate the most every time i play this…
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I finished InterMission from FF7 Remake last night! It was mostly okay, but even though I like Yuffie as a character, it didn’t really feel fully-formed to me. Which is fine, because I don’t have to wait to start Rebirth, like all of the suckers and chumps who played Remake when it launched!
My only real gripe is that while the game ran perfectly fine for me all the way through (main game included) the literal only technical hiccup I had is that the cutscene at the end of Intermission (the one where Mr Doomed by the Narrative clearly dies to save Yuffie– S-E not doing anything groundbreaking in narrative here) hung up and wouldn’t play, but let me skip it, which I did. So I’ll have to try and find it on Youtube or something so I can completely not surprised by what it shows!
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Well I thought I’d at least try the first layer or so of the other couple chalices, but one of them had a big poison swamp that I noped right out of, and the other I didn’t have enough materials. So instead I went ahead and beat the final boss (after a few hardy tries). Great game! Now I get to perform my favorite post-game ritual of watching a bunch of speed runs and video essays.
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I want to contribute something both true and positive to this forum. I very much enjoy reading your positive experiences playing games. I’m at a stage in my life where I have time to enjoy things. The problem with having a life of enjoying things is that you focus on what you enjoy increasingly narrows as it is refined. It’s why Picasso drew terrible looking dogs on pottery later in life as he was rejecting all the refinement to his skills over the years and trying to find a way to start over. Got better or worse I am not comparing myself to Picasso but I relate to his choice to broaden his perspectives.
I read these posts because you are a group of weirdos whose experiences I relate to. Reading your experiences helps me remember what it was like to have broader weirdo likes even if I’m not quite there to experience them myself. Thanks for posting.
Edit: sorry for all the typos i use a swiping keyboard on my phone and I’m bad at it. Maybe proofreading isn’t for suckers after all. Having proof read this post, do I always sound like Maj. Briggs monologuing to Bobby?
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Downloaded Eternal Strands from Gamepass on a lark because I’d heard good things, and wow do I ever not like it! I’m glad other folks are finding something to enjoy, but engaging with the game world feels really fundamentally bad to me in a way that makes it difficult to want to proceed. I think, ultimately, it’s due to a lack of inertia in the act of movement and combat; where a Mario or an Elden Ring feels weighty, deliberate, and physical, something that lacks that physicality just feels… unpleasant.
I’m also just more than a little tired of this new trend of replacing loot with crafting; maybe I just liked the old skinner box more than the new skinner box but I am deeply, existentially uninterested in collecting branches in an open world. I know that the dopamine released from finding the sword of a dead king in a ruin choked with golems is a hollow victory, but whatever give me the fucking sword.
I was also looking forward to Avowed as a fan of the last two Pillars of Eternity games, but it sounds like it has also fallen victim to the scourge of branch collecting. Unfortunate! I’ll probably still give it a shot but I will be looking at it with stern disapproval the entire time.
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I don’t have the words right now to articulate it well, but your post has made me reconsider an ongoing discussion in my head about the merit of intentionally narrowing my own interests for the purposes of efficiency and depth.
Now I’m given pause. Thank you for your thought-provoking post.
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As you all know, due to many post edit notifications you’ve probably had (sorry everyone, that topic is done forever now so they’ll slow down for a while) I haven’t had a chance to write about CyberTom in Cyberpunk: A Night’s Tale mostly because I haven’t played it as much, for reasons to come. But as I’m close to starting the final series of missions and have done a lot of side gigs while I can, I think it’s time for…
Part 5: Sometimes the reward isn’t the eddies
Odd title, yes. Reason behind it, yes as well. Specifically one mission that really made me stop in my tracks and take a bit of a break from the game. I’m still really enjoying the game but the more I get into the world and the people in it, the more I’ve discovered how dark it actually is. I did mention before how dark the game was (both thematically and visually) but one mission really did knock me for six - not just the content of it but how I, as a player handled it.
The mission is called Dirty Biz, and appears at first to be a simple “Go get something for me” gig which was fine. Then you get into the actual reason why you need to get said thing because of what it is. This is hidden because it’s not happy and if you haven’t played it, I don’t want to ruin that experience:
Dirty Biz gig description
Someone’s son has was kidnapped and murdered, and the police dropped the case due to lack of evidence. Said father found a BD of the murder, which had been edited to hide any clues, so has asked the fixer to find someone to find the original BD unedited to help find his son, from a father and son team who deal in illegal BDs and are protected by the Maelstromers gang
So I could either go in quietly and steal what I needed to get or go in guns blazing and wipe everyone out. I chose the later. When I realised what the mission was about I didn’t even stop and think about not hurting everyone I saw along the way. And it was messy. REALLY messy. I made sure everyone I saw was dead and the people who were by the item I needed were even more deader than that.
You get to the item and there’s two people there. I realised that due to how they were talking they were enjoying themselves a little too much. So I shot the one on the left without even thinking. The one on the right got very upset and cried and explained how it wasn’t fair and I should spare him and I shot him as well. I let him go on for a bit talking, but not listening or caring what he had to say, and with the full intent of shooting him, just wasn’t sure when. I can’t even remember exactly what he said that made me pull the trigger (button). I got the item, realised what I was holding, asked to drop it off at a drop point and completed the mission. Then I turned the game off for a couple of days.
This mission got to me in a way that nothing else in the game had before. This can’t specifically be written without spoiling it so…
Read if you want a spoiler of my reason
I’m a father myself, and I had to get information on helping another father who had lost their son and needed to find out why. From two people who clearly enjoyed what they had and didn’t care who it effected.
Sure creating my own V and making decisions on how I play the story and react to other characters made it more personal, but this one really hit home hard. I didn’t want to to finish it because I would get a reward, I wanted to finish it because I wanted to hurt the people who had done what they had done. This was nothing but vengeance for me. And in turn by doing that I realised how much the game had effected me on a personal level - that these characters really upset me and I wanted to hurt them.
Okay maybe this single mission doesn’t deserve an entire part of CyberTom in Cyberpunk: A Night’s Tale, but for me it really does, as I cannot remember the last time I played a game where I was so emotionally connected to the mission and the reasons behind doing it. When I play a game it’s to complete an objective, save someone, jump to get a coin from a block or any other of a million reasons. The fact that this wanted me to avenge someone shows how much detail they’ve put into the game and the character development to get me to this point. If it’d had been an earlier mission I probably wouldn’t have cared as much as I have, but as it’s been almost 50 hours of playing, I’m invested in my V and where he will go and even more importantly how he will do it.
I’ve played since and am still loving it. I am also checking a bit more before I decide “Oh I’ll do that job” because it’s not always about the money or the street cred or the experience points. Sometimes you start something and it goes somewhere you don’t expect, and not many games do that on an emotional level as well as Cyberpunk 2077 has for me. This is one mission when I play the game again, I will politely decline and know I did it the only way I could have done it once before, so don’t need to again.
I promise the next part will be happier. But I did want to share how much of an impact this game has on me outside of looking pretty and shooting stuff and Keanu Reeves.
Until next time, stay safe on the streets of Night City everyone!
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I actually refunded the game because I felt like I was lost more often than not and it became tediously frustrating… A shame because I loved the general traversal and momentum!
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I couldn’t get through the demo of this one, which made me sad as a long-time champion of BioWare and many of the developers and writers who used to work there. I found the movement and combat strange, too. I didn’t spend enough time playing to put my finger on why, but I think you’re right about the lack of inertia
I remember this one. You did the right thing. This game really is remarkable in how it can pull the player in like this, though. I’ve had similar moments across my own playthroughs (dark ones and blissfully serene ones), and they’re a huge part of what makes Cyberpunk 2077 a singular experience to me
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