Gaming

Still playing through The Messenger. Excellent game that everyone should play.

I don't actually own Silksong just yet, so I just started a game called The Gunk. So far, kinda has that Savage Planet semi-realistic vibe to it, and the voice acting is really good. The beginning hooked me, so hopefully it has a satisfying ending when I get there.

I never beat Hollow Knight (yeah yeah, I know), so I'm working my way through that. I think I'm about half way? Obviously hard to tell.

Started Castlevania: Harmony of Dissonance, after I finished Circle of the Moon last week. It looks and sounds worse than CotM, but it's a lot better than that game, because it doesn't play like ass.

Some other meh stuff is still there, like the game is kinda easy, and exploring the map is an absolute chore for the first half (maybe two thirds), until you finally get the means to open up all the blocked paths and get access to proper teleporters. Still better than double-tap to sprint though.

I haven't finished the game yet, I might be near the end, but didn't make it before Hollow Knight: Silksong, which I gotta play first.

Quite a bit of northgard with my wife. But I have really been wanting to goof off in Abiotic Factor with my friends. It's been hard to get together. Curse getting older and having other priorities!

Shinobi art of vengeance. I liked it so far.

Also, Silksong of course. I am just past getting the run/dash ability. Facing off against the character with the fencing sword. Had to rage quit on that one. Lol

I've been jumping a bit between games.

I tired playing again a bit of No Man's Sky, because of the new update and expedition, but it didn't keep my attention.

I mostly ended up playing Phantasy Star Online, but suddenly stopped when I noticed how repetitive it was (after around 30 hours of playtime) and started questioning the point of playing it (I wasn't not having fun, but it did feel a bit empty), and couldn't get back to it.

I was still looking for a similar Sci-Fi+Fantasy setting so i just started playing Xenosaga.

I played Samurai Jack: Battle Through Time this week. Apparently Itagaki and some of the other ex-Team Ninja members who left after Ninja Gaiden 2 made it, so it felt like a natural next game after finishing the Ninja Gaiden trilogy.

I was very positively surprised by this game. Art direction is great, it has some very nice looking levels and apparently got both the original creator, some of the show writers as well as the original voice cast on board. Story isn't going to pull up any trees but it felt appropriate for a cartoon and had some fun characters.

Gameplay definitely felt like it had Ninja Gaiden lineage, and felt pretty fun overall. Between the graphics and the ground pickups it felt a bit like a throwback to games of a bygone era. It's a bit of a shame that many important combat abilities are gated behind the skill tree as it means the gameplay doesn't make a great first impression, but it opens up and becomes a lot more fun as you start unlocking things.

Bosses were fun for the most part and felt appropriately balanced. Some fun designs and playing on Normal I didn't need more than a couple attempts at most for each boss, which feels right for a game like this. Maybe the final boss's vulnerability windows were a tad to small, but it was a cool boss otherwise.

Definitely recommend it if you're interested in a more laid back and chill action game. Or if you're a Samurai Jack fan, of course. Sadly I believe it's been delisted from all storefronts but Epic, but you can of course always fly the black flag.

Path of Exile 2. So far, it's fun! I'm in Act 2, we'll see how the endgame looks like.

Just more Crusader Kings 3 and whatever the hell goes on there.

I also went back to Stellaris for a bit now that it's stable since the big change uhhh a few months ago. It used to be to my favourite Paradox game but at the moment it's just not hitting right.

I started “Mafia: Definitive Edition” on an ROG Ally running SteamOS and holy shit does that look good! Controls feel a bit … weird and broken though.

I played the original fifteen years ago or so, but I basically forgot everything except a few names.

I recently had fun voicing the different characters in Promises To Keep on Itch(dot)io. Warning! It's a furry visual novel! Don't get to do stuff like that much because I don't want my parents or brother hearing me do this type of stuff.

I also have been using a glitch in Gemcraft Chasing Shadows to progress because I am at the point where I'm not doing so hot.

Otherwise, I cannot think of much else I've been doing besides going back to Hotline Miami to try and get everything I missed and every achievement.

I am personally not all too interested in either Hollow Knight or Silksong, but more power to those who are.