games games!
Dec. 24th, 2024 03:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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making_games(I'm dealing with Circumstances and may be scarce; apologies. Don't want to discuss details here, thank you!)
Recent gaming! What have y'all been playing lately?
recent games
- Onrydra_wong's recommendation, Slay the Princess (visual novel) on Steam Deck. Probably this is best largely unspoiled: it's fairytale horror, but I'm a comparatively squeamish player/viewer and this was fine. ('Ware the content notes if that's a concern.) It features beautiful "pencil sketch" style art that works well for the theme and I especially enjoyed how the main musical theme was altered in ways to complement the gameplay. (I brought this in to a smol but cheery "videogame music of 2024" listening hangout at my postgraduate program and the people in the video games/sound design programs agreed it was terrific.)
If you're the kind of player who enjoys Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson (Fighting Fantasy gamebook), Slouching Toward Bedlam by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (parser-based interactive fiction/text adventure; you can play in-browser at the link; the button is in the top right of that page), or Doki Doki Literature Club (visual novel, also horror), you might enjoy this.
- I got sucked into Balatro on Steam Deck, iPhone, and iPad :p and Max Gladstone claims he wasn't the vector of transmission so it might have beenyeloson or someone else? I genuinely don't remember. This is a poker-themed roguelike where, as you go, you alter the deck, alter modifiers that affect scoring, etc. You don't need to know how to play "real" poker - I mean, it might initially help a tiny bit in having a sense of the odds for hands in a standard poker deck, but the game tells you everything you need to know and I suspect it's easy to pick up.
There's functionally no narrative and it doesn't need one. The interface is retro in style, charming, extremely easy to navigate. It's addictive, fun, can be played in snatches, and the random combos can be very satisfying.
currently playing
- Fights in Tight Spaces - again, I can't remember who rec'd this to me! The go-to people I tend to think of as delivering game recs to me areyeloson and Max Gladstone, but it could have been someone else. :p
This is a "special agent" fighting deckbuilder (think James Bond, I guess, for those who have watched or read any James Bond [1]), but with a spatial (isometric square) small-group tactics component. You'll have cards that do movement, attack cards, defense cards, and of course cards will combine some of these elements; your task is to kill all the opponents (and sometimes, for bonus, to save allies), who have decks/moves of their own.
Hilariously, I died EIGHT TIMES using the second deck that unlocks after the starter deck (Counterstriker), which even TELLS YOU in the name how to play it if you're not paying attention to the MECHANICS of what's in the deck. The core strategy for Counterstriker is:
- lots of maneuver
- lots of block (defense), much of which deals a lot of counterattack damage after YOU'VE been hit
- a small amount of attack
The primary way you deal big damage is by building up block (to protect yourself from taking damage from incoming attacks), maneuvering so enemies can only hit you one or two at a time but DEFFO placing yourself where they can hit you, and not...really attacking all that often.
I kept dying because I couldn't deal enough damage because I was trying to deal damage on straight-up attacks AND AVOIDING BEING HIT AT ALL. I radioactively hate being hit! But if you play this deck correctly (and get lucky on card draws, position carefully, etc.), you DEAL damage by BEING HIT, NOT taking (much) damage because your block is high, and COUNTERATTACKING AFTER THE HIT. And it's right there in the name of the deck but I had to convince myself to STAND THERE TO GET HIT.
(In real life, I'm 5'4" and have the upper body strength of an overcooked noodle, so. :p)
I haven't gotten far into this game, but it's delightful - extremely clean, well-thought-out graphically minimal interface but it evokes the "secret agent mission" feel, cartoon violence (I'm pretty wimpy and this was fine), a pleasure to play and explore. I think the best comparison is if you took Sirlin Games' Yomi (originally a fixed-deck fighting card game with physical cards, still available; there's a digital version too, and a sequel in the works?) and gave it a small tactical grid element. (I like Yomi a lot although I know others differ.)
[1] I have to specify this as to this day I have never watched or read a James Bond anything. /o\
Recent gaming! What have y'all been playing lately?
recent games
- On
rydra_wong's recommendation, Slay the Princess (visual novel) on Steam Deck. Probably this is best largely unspoiled: it's fairytale horror, but I'm a comparatively squeamish player/viewer and this was fine. ('Ware the content notes if that's a concern.) It features beautiful "pencil sketch" style art that works well for the theme and I especially enjoyed how the main musical theme was altered in ways to complement the gameplay. (I brought this in to a smol but cheery "videogame music of 2024" listening hangout at my postgraduate program and the people in the video games/sound design programs agreed it was terrific.)If you're the kind of player who enjoys Creature of Havoc by Steve Jackson (Fighting Fantasy gamebook), Slouching Toward Bedlam by Star Foster and Daniel Ravipinto (parser-based interactive fiction/text adventure; you can play in-browser at the link; the button is in the top right of that page), or Doki Doki Literature Club (visual novel, also horror), you might enjoy this.
- I got sucked into Balatro on Steam Deck, iPhone, and iPad :p and Max Gladstone claims he wasn't the vector of transmission so it might have been
yeloson or someone else? I genuinely don't remember. This is a poker-themed roguelike where, as you go, you alter the deck, alter modifiers that affect scoring, etc. You don't need to know how to play "real" poker - I mean, it might initially help a tiny bit in having a sense of the odds for hands in a standard poker deck, but the game tells you everything you need to know and I suspect it's easy to pick up.There's functionally no narrative and it doesn't need one. The interface is retro in style, charming, extremely easy to navigate. It's addictive, fun, can be played in snatches, and the random combos can be very satisfying.
currently playing
- Fights in Tight Spaces - again, I can't remember who rec'd this to me! The go-to people I tend to think of as delivering game recs to me are
yeloson and Max Gladstone, but it could have been someone else. :pThis is a "special agent" fighting deckbuilder (think James Bond, I guess, for those who have watched or read any James Bond [1]), but with a spatial (isometric square) small-group tactics component. You'll have cards that do movement, attack cards, defense cards, and of course cards will combine some of these elements; your task is to kill all the opponents (and sometimes, for bonus, to save allies), who have decks/moves of their own.
Hilariously, I died EIGHT TIMES using the second deck that unlocks after the starter deck (Counterstriker), which even TELLS YOU in the name how to play it if you're not paying attention to the MECHANICS of what's in the deck. The core strategy for Counterstriker is:
- lots of maneuver
- lots of block (defense), much of which deals a lot of counterattack damage after YOU'VE been hit
- a small amount of attack
The primary way you deal big damage is by building up block (to protect yourself from taking damage from incoming attacks), maneuvering so enemies can only hit you one or two at a time but DEFFO placing yourself where they can hit you, and not...really attacking all that often.
I kept dying because I couldn't deal enough damage because I was trying to deal damage on straight-up attacks AND AVOIDING BEING HIT AT ALL. I radioactively hate being hit! But if you play this deck correctly (and get lucky on card draws, position carefully, etc.), you DEAL damage by BEING HIT, NOT taking (much) damage because your block is high, and COUNTERATTACKING AFTER THE HIT. And it's right there in the name of the deck but I had to convince myself to STAND THERE TO GET HIT.
(In real life, I'm 5'4" and have the upper body strength of an overcooked noodle, so. :p)
I haven't gotten far into this game, but it's delightful - extremely clean, well-thought-out graphically minimal interface but it evokes the "secret agent mission" feel, cartoon violence (I'm pretty wimpy and this was fine), a pleasure to play and explore. I think the best comparison is if you took Sirlin Games' Yomi (originally a fixed-deck fighting card game with physical cards, still available; there's a digital version too, and a sequel in the works?) and gave it a small tactical grid element. (I like Yomi a lot although I know others differ.)
[1] I have to specify this as to this day I have never watched or read a James Bond anything. /o\
no subject
Date: 2024-12-24 11:14 pm (UTC)Other games I'm playing - some Train Sim, some Stellaris, some Warhammer Total War; but finding time for the last two is difficult given they're naturally long games.
Recently acquired but not yet installed (time again): Crysis 1/2/3 (reward for doing an Intel survey - all the other options were permanently free games, only Crysis was actually reduced - seriously Intel, way to look cheap!), and Mass Effect Legendary Edition (Mass Effect 1/2/3 remastered and with all their add-ons) for about $4 in the Black Friday Steam Sale, plus a similar deal for Fallout 4.
Recently acquired and will be playing at least some more of: Return to Moria, first person survival building/fighting game, reclaim Moria for the Dwarfs post Gandalf offing the Balrog.
Recently acquired and just as quickly uninstalled: Bus Simulator 21. Too much like hard work with the mouse, would probably work well with a steering wheel and pedals set up.
Recently restored to working status: War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition - turns out it works wonders if you actually remember to run the installer rather than just dragging over the files from the old laptop. Old and very time-consuming WWII Pacific Campaign game, I rarely play more than about a month into the campaign (daily turns), but instead use it to play out what-ifs.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-24 11:19 pm (UTC)I bailed out of Astrea; Joe played it to completion and said he thought it had some interesting ideas but wasn't his thing, and that the twee factor would probably drive me bonkers, don't play it. In another mood I might be able to endure twee, but right now my mood is either pretty abstract crunchy roguelike stuff (Balatro) or AGGRO AGGRO DAKKA DAKKA or similar (Fights in Tight Spaces is close enough and has great gameplay imo).
(I love Regency Solitaire 2 but I played an unhinged amount of that game, ready to move on while awaiting Regency Solitaire 3!)
no subject
Date: 2024-12-25 07:37 am (UTC)- Genshin Impact - mostly because I've got friends I boss hunt with on a regular basis; the story is good when I engage with it but sometimes the FTP gacha time-limited everything starts annoying me and I bail.
- Monster Hunter: World - picked up thanks to a couple of friends who've put multiple hundreds of hours into the game. Initially I was engaging with it pretty lightly as a trial run to see if I was going to let them lure me into Wilds properly when it comes out next February, but then it turns out that using ridiculously large weapons to stab even ridiculously larger monsters is ... really fun actually. XD Especially with friends who can point me in the right direction in terms of skill building.
- Satisfactory - Played it with some friends in Early Access until our game got large enough to have crashing issues; now really enjoying v1 with said friends. I've learned that I don't have the patience to play it solo -- having to do everything myself gets old -- but multiplayer allows enough variety to solve that.
- Grounded - Similar to Satisfactory except with more combat focus; also similar to Satisfactory, I enjoy playing it multiplayer but probably wouldn't want to play it solo. I really enjoy the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"-esque setup and the story is pretty good for a survival/crafting game, though, imo.
- Against the Storm - cute aesthetic, the mechanics and the dark fantasy vibe work together way better than I expected when a friend first introduced me. Mechanically, it's got aspects of both city builders and roguelikes, so I need to be careful to set timers when I do play if I want to get anything else done. XD
- Cell to Singularity - My first experience with an idle clicker game. I think the genre in general is not for me, but it turns out that "fun science facts" was in fact a compelling enough "prize" for gaining fake currency that it kept me entertained for quite a while. I even made spreadsheets, lol.
- The Planet Crafter - Survival/crafting game similar to Grounded except scifi with "terraform the planet" as your goal. A bit on the short side, but my game group enjoyed it enough to complete it, and we play infrequently enough that it still gave us a couple of months of entertainment.
- CrossCode - JRPG-style game with a strong puzzle aspect and a (so far) really good story. I was really enjoying this one before life took over for a bit, and am hoping to scrape together enough attention span to pick it back up soon.
- Deep Rock Galactic - I have believed for decades that I am incapable of playing FPSes because early experiences left me feeling claustrophobic and hyperaware in an un-fun way. Through experimentation with Raft last year, Satisfactory this year, and finally DRG, I've determined that it's not the "first person" or even the "shooter" that kicks me into unfun mode, but the feeling like I have to be paying attention to Everything At All Times, and the critters in DRG (+ the fact that it's co-op) happily don't trigger that for me. This is another game that I've been playing with friends, and will likely continue to only do so in that situation -- it's a fun thing to do while hanging out but I'm not sufficiently invested to play it solo.
- Slay the Spire - After enjoying the board game, I finally picked up the video game, lost a hundred or so hours to it, and am now circling back occasionally at a slower pace. It's my first roguelike experience, and imo it's a classic for a reason. :)
no subject
Date: 2024-12-25 10:10 pm (UTC)My husband adores Slay the Spire and I came to enjoy it after overcoming my dislike for the art. XD I have not tried the board game but we should investigate, thank you!
I'm adding CrossCode to my list. :)
Happy gaming!
no subject
Date: 2024-12-25 11:52 pm (UTC)I got very close to spending money once, and very disappointed once, but once I got through that I've realized that I actually enjoy the fun challenge of "what can I do with the characters I have". (It's a bit like one of the things I like about roguelikes in that way, come to think of it.) I 100% support anyone who avoids gacha and/or FTP games on general principles though; Genshin in particular is quite good at its subtle pressure to play constantly and roll for all the things ... though I give it props for continuing to be playable FTP.
Re: the Slay the Spire board game, I hope you enjoy and would be interested to hear your thoughts if/when you get around to it! It's imo a fantastic adaptation; a lot of the finer details are different but the characters and general playpatterns "feel" similar enough that it felt like it gave me a leg up when I picked up the video game. (Though having to suffer through Ironclad -- my least favorite character -- in order to even unlock my favorites was a bummer. XD) My one warning is that it's one of those long-ish setup, and also long in general games -- in four player (the way I usually end up playing it) a game where we get all the way through to the end of Act III often takes us over 5 hours. (Pausing at an Act boundary works pretty decently, though.)