Been playing lots of The Finals Lately, and recently jumped back into Titanfall 2. Really enjoying the creative gameplay of the Finals, and Titanfall is just so damn good.

Late to the party, but I finally picked up Helldivers 2. My friends have had it since it came out, but I was being the “hipster gamer” and didn’t get the popular game. Plus, our group has a tendency to do “flavor of the week”/FOMO gaming, where 1 or 2 people buy a new game, convince/guilt trip others into buying the game, we all spend $30-50 on it, play it for like 2 days, then never touch it again. So I was hesitant to get it, lest I get burned again (a la Starfield). Lastly, I’m also not a huge shooter player.

But I wanted to played with the boys, and they were playing it again recently, so I picked it up. And I’m glad I did. Because it’s fun. Stupid fun even. Which is right up our alley. Already put 20hrs in over the last week.

The mechanics are simple. The missions are straightforward. And I like that it’s a pickup/putdown game. Play a 20-40min round, then come back later or tomorrow. It’s not like we’re playing hours on end, which is great. We’ll play a match or two, then maybe do another before we start signing-off for the night.

Lots of Skyrim!
Also this game for Playdate called Spilled Mushrooms, I’d been waiting for it to come out a while. It’s a nice blend of simple card game and puzzl and each round only takes a few minutes. The goal is to pick animals to help collect your mushrooms from different areas, animals have different abilities and each biomes can have modifiers, pretty much endlessly replayable and very satisfying once you get into a groove! I’m glad it’s not on more platforms because I’d lose so much more time to it

I have been playing Evoland Legendary Edition. The 2 games bundled are surprisingly dissimilar, with the first being almost a parody game of extremely short length, and the second being a fairly fleshed-out, 20 hour RPG-lite, with a story of real stakes (highly inspired by Chrono Trigger).

Very worth it if picked up on sale, just be prepared for the tone-whiplash between games.

Finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution last week, and I while i enjoyed it I didn’t want to jump into Mankind Divided right away. It was a fine game but I felt like going back for more straight away might make me burn out.

Decided instead to finally get through Metro: Last Light. I really enjoyed 2033, but when I started LL right after I just couldn’t get into it. This time it’s going better and I’m having a good time playing it - very immersive on Ranger Hardcore. I still prefer the first game so far though, I think. Still not thrilled about the way checkpoint saving interacts with the moral points system (you sometimes have to sit for minutes on end rewatching the same conversation), but it’s not enough to completely sour me on it. Looking forward to eventually getting to Exodus.

Also playing some Deadlock games, though despite loving the game I’m already noticing it’s not always great for my mood.

Got back into Yooka Laylee after a fairly long hiatus. Still on the first 2 levels because of the high amount of exploration and things to do, so I’m not far at all, but definitely having fun.

Finished Limbo after it was sitting in my library for years and it was really emjoyable. I did not expect to like it as much as I did but the puzzles were all completely doable (

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Also played through Mouthwashing and was pleasantly disturbed. The lasst 20 minutes get a bit long in the teeth but overall a great experience.

Started Horizon Zero Dawn. I usually don’t like open world games, but this one has an interesting setting and the gameplay seems fun, so I’m giving it a try.

Finally finished Trails of Cold Steel which was meh. It felt needlessly padded (it could have been shortened to like 30 hours instead of 60 IMO) and there were too many uninteresting characters (I actually can’t think of an interesting one). Hopefully the following games are better, as now the setting should be more interesting.

I tried darkwood this weekend, and it’s left me torn. I really enjoy certain aspects about it, but I feel like the pacing is weird.

I finished Still wakes the deep the other day and I thought it was ok. It was an interesting environment to explore, but I didn’t think it was all too scary.

I’m off to find a different horror game to play now.

Making my way through Like a dragon: Infinite wealth Loving it so far, and think this might actually be the first Yakuza/LAD game I finish, always got distracted in the past.

Lorn’s Lure - This game absolutely enthralled me over the past 2 weeks. It’s a parkour/exploration game, one developer, and it’s just so well designed. Punches way over it’s price for $15.

The maps are these enormous sprawling runes of an ancient machine, and there so much to find and see in each level. Then after beating the game you can go back with all upgrades and there are so many new paths, new secrets. There’s this special feeling when a developer adds so much in just for their love of the game. Things that don’t unlock new content, don’t satisfy any goals, just more fun and interesting stuff to look at and play around in, if you want. Then you get to the last level and it’s such an emotional peak. It’s like the dev spent 7 chapters just teaching us, preparing the player for the final level, and then doesn’t hold anything back.

AND it relates to both Hatch and Kill the K.O.T.H., Hatch specifically could be a lesson in pacing, I recommend that as well for anyone interested.

Working on a last hurrah for Diablo 4: Season 5, just finishing up max leveling glyphs for my Scorcerer before I completely set it aside for next season.

Right when I was getting bored playing Sims 3 in my current save, my eldest… disappears. I mean, I saw her die, the Grim Reaper showed up and got her, but that means nothing to this buggy mess of a game. She left no tombstone or anything. So, my current save now is now at four generations, due to an adoption. But, I’m at a point where I want to play other stuff, so this game’s going back on the shelf for a while until I need another reset.

Finished Amnesia: The Bunker and managed to get a couple achievements out of it. I might do some serious achievement hunting, but I also kind of want to play a new game, so we’ll see how this week goes.

The Forever Winter. Released in early access due to popular demand. It’s rough, divisive, and difficult as hell. It’s also incredibly grim and hauntingly beautiful. It’s a PvE-only, stealth-based, extraction (non-)shooter where you scavenge resources to survive in the shadow of a military-industrial complex run absolutely amok. You are incredibly underpowered, outnumbered and outgunned, to the point where if you need to start shooting, you’re probably already dead. Gameplay is tense, frightening, and really drives home the overwhelming feeling of being a small fish in a really fucking big pond. It’s the opposite of a power fantasy and I’m really glad someone is doing something that different.

I’m not sure I’d recommend it in the state it’s in, if at all, but it’s definitely making me feel some kind of way. I don’t normally enjoy extraction shooters, but I find myself coming back to this one. Not that it’s really a shooter. Maybe that’s what’s doing it for me. The most divisive part is the water mechanic. It’s a key resource for your settlement; If you run out of water you lose all your stuff. But, it drains in real time not game time so it’s kind of a big commitment at the moment. Personally I understand both sides of the argument and I haven’t decided where I fall yet. It’s definitely worked on me because I find myself thinking about the game when I’m not playing, but if I end up taking a break I’m not sure I’ll have the commitment to build back up from scratch again.

Cult of the Lamb - Got this for my birthday from my buddy and it’s been very solid. I see why the reviews hype this game up; it’s a weird rpg with base building elements and that’s right up my alley. I’ve been playing it on the steam deck with a conservative power profile and it’s been a lot of fun.

Tactics Ogre Reborn - I’m a FF Tactics fan and I was told this game would scratch the itch. So far I can say it’s at got a captivating story. It’s great that my choices matter in this game and that character development is based on those choices. The gameplay is familiar and fluid. The AI also seems to scale well with the difficulty setting. I’d say fans of FF Tactics should definitely pick this up.

Darkwood and Disco Elysium, as games recommended by friends. Darkwood scares the crap out of me, maybe because I’m more alert to sounds in general. Disco Elysium is very interesting, but a tad slow, and not as engaging as other games.

Most of ny playtime now is Dark Souls 3. I only played 1 and 2 before, and this is about what I expected, more, slightly better and different Dark Souls. I’ll probably replay it more than DS 2, but that depends, because I might prefer 2’s less linear progression.

Also, still grinding supports I want to see (which is a lot) in Fire Emblem Revelations on bus rides.