Weekly “What are you playing” Thread || Week of March 17th

I played Terra Nil, which was really enjoyable, but way too short! It only has four levels, and I would have played much more than that.

Also playing Against the Storm, which I stumbled across on Steam looking for something else to play after I finished Terra Nil so quickly. Really liking this one as well! The city building itself is fun, and the added aspect of the metagame/cycle outside of the city builder is a twist that I think works really well.

Also still working on Cyberpunk 2077!

Finally got the ng+ ending for Dead Space (2023), and... I'm not sure that I like it? It's not bad per se, but at the very least I wish it had been presented a little differently. There's something about it that doesn't sit right with me, and it makes me worried about a remake for 2. I thought about replaying it (again), but I think I'm going to let it simmer for a while so I don't get burnt out on it.

I've been trying to utilize GamePass a lot more lately. Thought Those Who Remain seemed interesting, but the controls were so jank and stiff that I couldn't enjoy it properly. Because of this, I thought it was an older game. Nope, 2020. After I kinda got used to the controls, I got bored. Just when I was thinking of quitting, I died. Which led to the nail in the coffin, the shit save system. I had to start all the way back at the beginning of the level I was on. No, thank you, I'm not running through all those rooms again.

Decided to try out Scorn even though I initially hadn't heard very many good things about it. Honestly it's way more fun than I thought it would be, but in a weirdly abstract way. The graphics are amazing, and the setting is fantastic, but that might be because I'm a fan of H.R. Giger. I'm not sure if it would have benefited more or less if there was a more fleshed out plot than... whatever was going on. Most of the game was me just going around doing "stuff". No other motivation other than to progress in its purest form. It's pretty nice if you dream about existing inside Giger's work, like an interactive art piece first, and then a video game second. The more I think about it, the more I like it lol. Although I will say in case anyone is thinking about playing it, the last act has a whole lot of what-the-fuckery for a game based off of Giger, plus some. It's definitely not for the faint of heart or those with certain triggers.

I started and finished Stray today. It's a bit short (5.5 hours) and imo not really replayable, but I had a really nice time with it. I found it akin to Outer Wilds in the sense that you get to discover the lore as you progress in the world. I recommend picking it up if you get it on sale (the full price is a bit much for the duration).

I recently grabbed American truck simulator.. Like it so much that I bought a steering wheel, and now it's the only thing I play.

Although this week we're getting the new stardew valley update, might go check that out.

Just finished Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley This game is alright. Great visual style. Passable gameplay and nice music. Writing is quite simplistic but endearing with nostalgia. This is definitely a love letter to Moomin franchise. I loved to see Snufkin, Mini My and The Groke on screen with some cute cutscenes. I wouldn't recommend this game if you aren't already invested into Moomins. I enjoyed my time meeting beloved characters once again.

Edit: repost as federation on szmer.info is broken

Still playing Final Fantasy XV. I still think it's weird, but I'm having so much fun! I have found the catboi outfit.

I started playing Star of Providence. What cool shmup roguelite! My hand eye coordination is mediocre, so I predictably suck. There's so much charm in it that I want to endure though.

I thought I didn't like zombie games until I discovered Days Gone... it's been really engrossing and has a wonderful plot, great characters and I don't skip the dialogue, which is quite rare for me. It also looks stunning.

Helldivers 2 in the streets, Unicorn Overlord in the sheets

like, undocked and chillin' in bed

Helldivers 2 with friends.

Dark Messiah of Might and Magic. Hadn't played since I was much younger. Forgot how fun it was to kick everyone off ledges.

Binding of Isaac - once I figure out how to get my GOG save file on my partner's PC to sync with my PC...

Total War: Warhammer 3. Played this one on and off. A mod I love just dropped a patch so I'm bad into it for now, until CA fucks something up again.

I've been playing The Witcher 2 but I feel like I'm kind of forcing myself. I got distracted and started playing Returnal and resumed working on my big hole in Minecraft

Finished up Dual Destinies yesterday and I'm on to Spirit of Justice.

It feels... odd. Not bad, just odd. Really enjoyed DD, though. We'll see how the rest of this goes.

Still completely and unhealthily obsessed with F1 Manager 2023, nearing the end of my second season as Aston Martin. Hard/Hard difficulty has felt about appropriate thus far, at least on a team starting in a good position like AM. I was sweating at the start of this season since the board expected me to get second and I started the year a little slow, but it looks like I will pull it off. Still couldn't touch Red Bull or Max this year, though I have taken a couple of race wins.

The development race has been tight so far, with Mercedes roaring back after a dismal 2023 season and Red Bull refusing to let me outdevelop them.

It's a little sad that the first two installments didn't sell well and F1 Manager 2024 looks like it will be the last entry in the series. Sure, the game has its issues, but there are a lot of good things here too, and a lot of systems that could be refined with time. I didn't play F1 Manager 2022, but it seems like a lot of the problems with it were addressed in 2023, as well.

Overall, I still recommend the game if you're an F1 fan, especially if you can find it on sale. You probably have to at least like racing (if not F1) to enjoy it though, as the main draw here is the race-day experience.

Started playing Styx: Master of Shadows last week. I’m not that far into yet, but I’ve really enjoyed the few missions I have played. I’m a big fan of stealth games and fantasy settings, so I’m not sure how I missed this one when it originally came out.

I picked up King of Seas on sale just to have something silly to play. It's a fun little thing, getting to roam around as a pirate and dodging the navy and main quest alike in pursuit of a fancier ship

So I have been getting bored of Minecraft but felt like having a twist on my own new single player survival world.

So last week I started out in Minecraft 1.5.2, which was the version I started playing on, and I intend to slowly upgrade the world, along the way collecting mobs, blocks, items and world generation not possible in later versions (dubbed Discontinued Items).

My latest endeavour was actually switching to the 2013 April Fools version, Minecraft 2.0, and obtaining things like enchanted signs, creating setups for floating blocks (ladders, torches, floating sand/gravel, etc.), things that will survive the upgrade to 1.6.

Finished In stars and time last week, it was wonderful! Now I need to play Trackmania for a tournament, and I will probably finish Signalis this week.

WH40K Boltgun and Ninja Gaiden Black.

Ninja Gaiden has a nostalgia factor to it and Boltgun is just classic old school FPS. I have old taste in video games.

I've been playing a lot of Broken Reality to get my fix of "retro-style internet simulator" after finishing Hypnospace Outlaw. I'm also getting back into Cassette Beasts, especially after a cool new mod (Living Wirral) released for it.

Besides that, I've been enjoying Forza Horizon 4.

I played a bit of Bootstrap Island tonight, it’s fun! It’s a vr roguelike island survival game, monsters come out at night and it’s pretty fuckin scary

The Mobius Machine, nice cute scifi metroidvania with good controls and very big maps.

Last Epoch, hitting the ARPG itch after Diablo 4 letdown.

Backpack Battles. I should have never bought this. It's eating all my spare time.

Most recently, KeyWe and modded Keep Talking with friends. Solo, still ol' reliable slay the spire.

I have a plan to teach someone how to play schnapsen and crazyhouse chess tomorrow so that's exciting.

Just finished Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley This game is alright. Great visual style. Passable gameplay and nice music. Writing is quite simplistic but endearing with nostalgia. This is definitely a love letter to Moomin franchise. I loved to see Snufkin, Mini My and The Groke on screen with some cute cutscenes. I wouldn't recommend this game if you aren't already invested into Moomins. I enjoyed my time meeting beloved characters once again.