Essence_of_Meh

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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 18 in c/manga@ani.social
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 1 points 24 minutes ago

Absolutely perfect.

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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 18 (mangadex.org)
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[DISC] Mary-san - Ch. 297 (mangadex.org)
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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 17 (mangadex.org)
Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 02] in c/manga@ani.social
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

I had a slightly more coherent post but my virtual dog ate it and I had to rewrite it from memory. Sorry about that.

As some of you probably noticed I've been posting a new romance series called Unexciting Date recently. It's a story about two awkward low energy goobers going on dates, as you can imagine. They have pretty unique dynamic and humour, good banter and nice, low stakes adventures. It's a very chill and light read.

I have a bit of a problem starting anything new at the moment but this series quickly became one of my must reads whenever a new chapter drops. It's great.

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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 16 (mangadex.org)
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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 15 (mangadex.org)
What Are You Playing? General VN Discussion Thread (January 2026) in c/visualnovels@ani.social
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

Sounds like a solid way to end the year. I'll bookmark the post as to not spoil myself on of the Devil but your thoughts on later episodes look promising.

Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Just to be clear, I don't know if it added more reading on top of combat or as a potential alternative since I didn't play it yet. I just heard there's more of it (though I wouldn't say no to improving the ratio between peaceful and combat scenarios).

Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

All's well that ends well then. Congrats on the move!

Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago (2 children)

My problem wasn't that serious (I enjoyed the combat and only dislike the large battles) but I can see how it can be a run killer. I'm not sure if that's of any help but I saw mentions that Hong Kong has more reading than the two previous titles, I'm definitely looking forward to that.

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[DISC] The Saga of Tanya the Evil - Ch. 106 (mangadex.org)
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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 14 (mangadex.org)
Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 13 points 3 days ago (7 children)

I think posting can wait when set against real life (still, nice to have the thread), hope things went well.

Shadowrun: DragonfallI finished the game. As a whole it's a better experience than the previous title, with slightly more interesting writing (both are great), better balance and an expanded format of acting as a shadowrunner. There's only one issue that really affected my enjoyment throughout and that's the amount of large combat scenarios (waves or rooms with 10+ enemies attacking at the same time). They weren't a majority thankfully, but they were common enough to get a little tiring, to say the least.

I like Shadowrun in its small scale and more personal form, anything big (important jobs with tons of enemies, epic stakes) and I lose interest pretty quickly. I don't know why games feel the need to end with saving the world or equally important scenarios but it's the most boring direction a story can go for me at this point. Dragonfall did manage to put a reasonably interesting spin on that at least and I think it did it slightly better than Returns so kudos for that at least.

I loved the side character story arcs - small, personal, some more tragic, other ending happily. Advancing them after every run was one of my favourite parts of the game. I wish such mundane and unimportant story beats played a bigger part in RPGs in general.

After finishing two games I think I'm ready to say I really like this series, WAY MORE than I ever expected to. I had some reservations initially, both due to the setting (not because the idea is bad, I just wasn't feeling it) and jumping in after a long break from isometric RPGs but these games managed to win me over.
I just wish they had more unofficial content. All I have left is Hong-Kong (with its DLC campaign) and 2 user campaigns for Dragonfall (one of them being a remake of the SNES Shadowrun) - once that's done I'm out of modules. Cant's say I'm looking forward to that moment.

A.W.O.L.It's an indie tactical(ish) FPS made in EDuke32 engine. It has decently feeling and sounding weapons with really nice sprite work, nine levels (of varying quality) and unique hand drawn cutscenes.

Game aims for a more grounded approach, with relatively low health, reloading, aim-down-sights mechanic and 4 weapon limit. Oh, there's also localised damage system for enemies (well... head shots), simple squad mechanic (with voice acting for combat barks!) and a stealth system.

Enemies are rather brain dead and have trouble aiming when approached from slightly elevated position - they can still tear through your health if you're not careful though. Levels are a mixed bag, some parts look pretty good, some are a bit undercooked (simple design, broken lighting on certain models, occasional lack of skybox etc). Heck, one of them might cause some Max Payne's nightmare level related PTSD flare ups due to its design and pixel perfect platforming. On a more positive note, various map elements have pretty cool damage effects, you can really see the your handiwork after more chaotic encounters.

Outside cutscenes some story segments are displayed as dialogue boxes at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, these disappear pretty quickly which paired with their tendency to show up in the middle of the action make them easy to miss. It might not be the best story ever but it would be nice to have a chance to enjoy it.

It's a neat if amateurish project but it's fun enough way to spend 3-4 hours with. If anyone's curious about the game it's free on Steam.

2025 RecapIt's the final thread of the year so I thought I'd write a short recap. I managed to finish 16 games (that I properly remember) last year, 9 of which were bought this year - I was thinking this kinda puts a dent in the idea of backlog clearing but regardless of their tenure on my "to play" list, the end result is still better than the last few years combined. Backlog is shrinking, if only a little.

Anyway, here are the games I finished in 2025:

  • A.W.O.L.
  • Ace Combat 7
  • Ace Combat Zero
  • Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • Halo 1-4, ODST & Reach
  • Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded
  • Project Wingman + Frontline 59 DLC
  • Sam & Max Hit the Road
  • Shadowrun Returns
  • Shadowrun: Dragonfall
  • Umurangi Generation + DLC

There were also other things like visual novels (if you're interested in those feel free to join us in the !visualnovels@ani.social community) and some smaller indie titles whose names escape me at the moment. All in all a pretty decent number, I'd say.

Can I beat it next year? Probably not but I'll give it a shot. There are still a lot of titles waiting for their turn so even this pace means a few years of work just to get through everything. I'll be happy as long as I can finish the year with a slightly shorter backlog than I started it with.

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[DISC] Mary-san - Ch. 296 (mangadex.org)
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[DISC] Unexciting Date - Ch. 13 (mangadex.org)
What Are You Playing? General VN Discussion Thread (January 2026) in c/visualnovels@ani.social
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I'm not sure why I hate myself this much but I spent New Year's Eve (or rather the rest of the night) reading Narcissu 2nd. Tears were shed.

It blindsided me quite a bit as I expected a continuation focused on a point of view protagonist of the first story only to get a prequel starring Setsumi (the other main character from 1st) and Himeko (a new character with similar but different role to the former) instead. It also focused on a pretty different kind of sadness - not of those passing but rather those who witness the process. That's kind of how I interpret it anyway.
Despite this change of perspective, the writer managed to express the emotions just as well as they did with the first one. They are really good at this and considering there are a few more stories in the series, they have plenty to share about this topic.

My head is filled with a jumbled mess of thoughts and emotions, and I had no time to process them yet so all I'm going to write is this: Narcissu 1st & 2nd are beautiful stories and I love them deeply. I also hope to never read them again. I'm going to need long break filled with much MUCH lighter stuff before I get back to another serious title. While stories like these are great, they are also pretty devastating as I'm a big wimp when it comes to such topics and can only take so much before ending as complete mess.

Speaking of other stuff, the last third of the year or so served as a warm up to slowly build up towards larger VNs. I'm still not ready to go all in but my main goal for this year is to finally get to Steins;Gate (and of The Devil! I think I'm finally close to being ready for that as well). I don't expect to tackle them in January but I'm sure I'll get there in 2026.

Edit: I opened Narcissu to check something out and just hearing the music made me cry again. I'm not going to check anything any more. (╥﹏╥)

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What Are You Playing? General VN Discussion Thread (January 2026) (lemmy.world)
 

Hi there everyone, welcome to 2026! I'm glad you're here.

How was your year? Was it filled with new and exciting stories or maybe true and tried comfort food in the form of titles you're already familiar with? Do you have any plans for 2026?

New year is a perfect time for planning and recaps so that's what I'd like to make the main topic for this month but that doesn't mean we have to avoid the usual topics. If you have something you'd like to talk about but don't think it's worth posting as a separate thread this is the place for you.

  • Did you start playing something new?
  • Are there any games you're looking forward to?
  • Are you looking for suggestions on what to play?
  • Do you have some feedback or questions about our community?

These and any other topics are welcome here - as long as they are VN or community related.

< Previous thread

Dusting off the old PS2 in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

Regardless of their differences it was still tied to the first game, not making use of this connection doesn't make much sense. At least it wasn't the case of (new) Prey where they forced the name of a completely separate game to bump up the sales.

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[DISC] Mieruko-chan - Ch. 68 (mangadex.org)
Dusting off the old PS2 in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Wait, it wasn't? It's a genuine question as I got into the series way past its prime.

Dusting off the old PS2 in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (6 children)

Yeah, PE2 can be like that. I vastly prefer the first one as well but I also think that the sequel isn't bad, it's just not necessarily what I'd like from a follow up. That's why I think it's worth suggesting anyway - some people might find it to be more enjoyable than I did.

Dusting off the old PS2 in c/patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
[–] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 12 points 6 days ago (10 children)

Heck yeah, Parasite Eve recognition! It's a fantastic RPG and one of the more unique ones thanks to its setting and gameplay - I wish later games kept the latter at least. If you didn't play PE2 it might also be worth a shot. It's a bit different, both in terms of story and gameplay, but it's still a solid and enjoyable title.

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Letter From The Chairman (2025) (robertsspaceindustries.com)
 

TL;DR:

  • Star Citizen
    • "Handles tens of thousands of people playing concurrently" every day.
    • "Shipped more mission content and in-game events than ever before this year."
    • "Delivered 11 major patches, more than 40 live publishes, 147 PTU builds, and several tech previews."
    • "More than 64 million hours played in Star Citizen (up from 48 million in 2024)."
    • "Huge improvements in server stability with 57% fewer player disconnections per 1 million player hours compared to 2024."
  • Squadron 42:
    • Focus on bringing the game to content complete and closing out remaining core tasks in preparation for Beta.
    • Game length: 40+ hours.
    • No long marketing campaign before release.
  • Future
    • Further focus on stability but also feature expansion.
    • Dynamic server meshing, plan to have up to 1000 players in a single instance.
    • Genesis (new planet tech).
    • New AI population management system.
    • Significant improvements to item recovery, inventory, insurance and cross-patch persistence.
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