I finished Max Payne but idk how I ever got through the first couple times I played it… I had so much trouble this round that I would be seriously stuck if it wasn’t for console commands T_T I briefly thought about playing Max Payne 2, but thinking about the final fight in that game is kind of off putting, so I’ll leave it be.

I originally wasn’t going to go through Quantum Break again, but since I had already decided on playing Max Payne and Control, I thought, what the hell, it’s a great game so I’ll go another round in it. Besides, Alan Wake 2 technically does reference it, so… lore! Plot points! The game is still great fun, incredibly underrated, but I am a little miffed that I now had to install the show episodes to watch them. Not a huge deal, but having to stop and wait a few hours for all the versions to download took me out of the moment.

Started a new playthrough of Subnautica to do between Remedy games. I’m trying to explore more and utilize the beacons and the scanner room, and man, I’ve already come across stuff I haven’t seen before. This might end up being a game I put on regular rotation as a “filler” game, like Mad Max or V:TM Bloodlines.

More Baldurs Gate 3 in coop with a friend. We’re in the Underdark, gonna kill some Dwarves next time and Gnome and probably everything. We’re just complete murderhobos.

Then I heard about Vampire Hunters, which is kinda Vampire Survivors, but as an FPS. It’s fun and there are a few more maps to beat, but I don’t know if it’s going to have as much staying power as some of these other games I’ve played.

Also, more Metroidvanias. I played through Elderand, and don’t think it’s very good. For some reason, I got lost and didn’t know where to go at some point, which I don’t remember ever happening with another game. It turned out to be a way up some platforms I just missed, but it took a lot of time with me just running around, until I looked at a video playthrough. Even if that’s just a skill issue on my end, some of the other parts, aren’t that good either. The map seems to be a bit inconsistent, which didn’t help finding the correct way. Combat is extremely repetitive, with every melee weapon having the same three-hit combo, even dual-wield daggers or a whip. There’s a crafting system for potions and upgrades, but it’s useless, because basically no materials drop. Definitely do not recommend this one.

I decided to buy Ender Magnolia, the follow-up to Ender Lilies, which is currently in Early Access. There’s not a lot to do right now, it took me a bit under two hours to get through everything, but it’s fun. Definitely wait for the full release though, unless you want to pre-order this game or something.

Finally, I also got Prince of Persia The Lost Crown. It’s much bigger than the other metroidvanias I played recently. I’m almost 20 hours in and about halfway done. It plays well and I gotta say, I really like the feature to take a picture, so you can see where you missed something and don’t just go back 20 times, just to realize you can’t get there yet. Combat against regular enemies can be a bit boring, since enemies are a bit spongy. Bosses are neat though, especially since you have a parry and interrupting boss moves feels great. There’s also a ton of platforming, which can get really tricky. The story is complete garbage and makes no sense, but whatever. The game is kinda expensive, but I got it on sale, which was fine. Since it’s an Ubisoft game, it’s probably going to be on sale for -75% in a few months.

Rant: Why are some of these metroidvanias so stingy with their fast travel? In Prince of Persia and Animal Well you can only travel to specific points of the map, although in Animal Well you could at least get to the teleporters from anywhere on the map. In Prince of Persia, you need to find the teleporter, to get someplace else, which can get really annoying. Just let me travel to and from every save point. Even Elderand, for all its faults, lets you do this. In Prince of Persia, in the DLC area you can actually teleport between save points, probably since they realized the other system sucks.

I’m in a bit of a down period as STALKER 2 is coming out soon so I don’t want to pick up a new story campaign from my backlog in the meantime (Metro: Exodus, Bioshock Infinite and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided are on the docket) in case I’m not finished in time for release day.

Still playing lots of Deadlock, but for a single player story game I’ve gone back to some bits of RDR 2 when I’m not in the competitive mood. I started it earlier this year but abandoned it as I burnt out on it a bit. Coming back to it has been a very mixed experience, there is still so much about it I love - but also some very deep frustrations. And absence hasn’t really made the heart grow fonder in that regard. I don’t really like the mission structure. I know it’s been brought up by others, but I too seem to be among those who are bothered by it. I also find the sheer body count forced on you through main story missions to be so ludicrous as to regularly ruin my immersion. I’m not even that far in and I’ve already basically committed genocide levels of murder! And then the mission is over and nobody is talking about the massacre of hundreds of lawmen?

Puyo Puyo Champions - After the video essay I posted two weeks ago ended up doing so much better than I expected, 11k+ views and 600+ likes, I decided to try streaming some ranked for the first time in 2.5 years. I’m still cracked.

Riichi Mahjong - This really ought to be worth a lot more for how rare it is.

Persona 4 Golden - Finally coming back to this, where’d I leave off again?

I’ve just finished the story mode of Green Hell. Now working on the Spirits of Amazonia mode. I hope I can build a more permanent base there instead of having to move every few hours.

Wayfinder

Just started Stardew Valley because I needed a distraction from the current Fortnite season which I really don’t like. I never touched it because I assumed it would be just like Terraria, but so far it’s so fun!

Trying to heal in World of War craft. I feel like the large number of spell effects makes it hard for people to see where it’s safe to stand.

Deadlybossmod for audio alerts on what is coming your way. I also use GTFO for my emotional support awoogaa sound effect to tell me I am standing in the fire.

Don’t forget to install weakauras. In WoWhead you can download pre-made profiles, look for the add on section in class guides.

If you are a DPS with a interrupt, you should consider using Plater. I got this profile that color codes the enemy’s cast bar so if it is green you can interrupt it.

Finally, you can better see when your cooldowns are ready with TellMeWhen. I personally only use the floating combat text to let me know I can push out another cooldown. There is a ton of utility in this one that I am just to much of a caveman to utilize.

Why did I get back into wow?!?!? Like I needed another reason to drink. The level design is on point in this expansion at least.

Also, factorio makes me want to quit my jobs and play it until I run out of money and get evicted (again)

My system (a laptop, all I’ve got 'cause I had to skitterflee from doomness v.v ) can’t run much so I’m kinda stuck at “playable” framerates on old games :-\ I kinda hate to admit it but I’ve been playing Borderlands 2 … the Linux version, 'cause the Windows version, which has a bunch of patches and mod support, just doesn’t run well enough for me 😭 Can’t even get any DLC, though I’ve been really wanting to try Gaige. May be too burnt out to enjoy it any more anyway.

Before that was Titan Quest, which just doesn’t really play like I wish it did. Played it a bunch anyway. Bleh.

So now I’m just sitting around trying to avoid losing my mind to boredom or despair. flailyskitters around in circles 😵‍💫

Got addicted to AudioSurf 2 over the weekend. Have a small handful of songs on microSD on deck and it’s pretty fun. Otherwise, did some Shotgun King and not much else besides Shattered Pixel Dungeon on my phone. This quarter of college has kinda drained me because of 2 freaking classes I hate.

I’m currently playing mainly the free hexceed, which to my surprise has a lot of free content. I found it mentioned elsewhere on Lemmy, and have been playing it since. hexceed is a hexagon puzzle game.

Being controllable mouse-only is nice. Needing focus it’s not always fitting to play though. :)

I also bought some pick-bundles and tried out Cash Cow DX, but it wasn’t for me.

And I tried playing The Ascend last weekend, but the Steam Controller track pad feels awful for full-degree aiming.

I’ve also been playing Koa and the Five Pirates of Mara, but am somehow on a break there currently. If I go back to a platformer on my PC, it’ll probably be that though, to continue playing through it.

I’ve finished Metaphor and it was really good, although I expected a bit more from the story, the ending felt a bit rushed.

I’ve started Triangle Strategy and while I’m enjoying it, the xp/difficulty curve feels really weird, as the battles feel too hard as soon as I reach them, but failing them once I level up enough to reach the recommended level and pass them.

I finally cracked into Phase 4 of Satisfactory when I haven’t been able to do that before, so I’m enjoying seeing some new things but also feeling a bit analysis paralysis on where to go/what to focus on. Currently trying to build a cool sky train that connects my bases. Also working on the Castlevania DLC for VS and doing my best not to just “look up the answers” to all the new content. I don’t have a ton of nostalgia for Castlevania outside of Aria of Sorrow, but I’m enjoying the sheer amount of new stuff they added in.

And lastly, Rise of the Golden Idol came out yesterday and consumed my evening. I loved that first game so much that this was a no-brainer.

Been playing quire a bit of the new Dragon Age. I normally don’t play games close to release, and I’ve never played a DA game before, but I watched a review and it seemed like something I was in the mood for. Been enjoying it quire a bit, more than I expected. I just really need to do something about my thermals.

We played this game called Icarus last weekend because of a free weekend. It was okay for me, but I also have a pretty high-end PC for the 1080p monitor connected to it. Even for me the game was quite janky, but for my friends with older hardware the game wasn’t a good time. One friend’s microphone randomly turned into a max-volume noise generator while playing on multiple occasions, something that has never happened before. Another (who plays on Linux) experienced constant crashes and weird behaviour.

After that disappointment we went back in time to The Showdown Effect for the first time in years, which was still as hilarious as ever. Apparently there’s an updated free to play version now (called reloaded or something?) so we’d have to check that out. Would recommend it if you’re looking to have some mayhem with friends .

Edit: oh yeah and I also bought Grid Legends because it has a big sale and I like racing games. The driving physics don’t annoy me like the ones in The Crew or Forza so I’m having a good time with it till now