Finished Rogue Trader last night, Owlcat’s Warhammer 40,000...
Well, I just installed it overnight. Last two proper RPGs I played were Divinity Original Sin: Enhanced Edition and Wasteland 2: Director's Cut. I had zero clue about any of those universes prior to playing.
Now, I am fairly knowledgeable about Warhammer 40k, so the element of being completely oblivious to the setting and character types will not be present.
I have seen quite a bit of opinions about the WH40k:RT, but I will try to will myself into treating it as a complete unknown.
I'll try to just do my best without consulting the hivemind. Historically, I may in fact have more understanding of how to play RPGs than I'd give myself credit for, or I have so far just been very lucky to not realize how wrong they can go with a miss of a build.
Regardless, I am yet to fail myself into a dead end... The Emperor does protect, I guess.
Rogue Trader had so many things about it that I just didn't like. I had NO idea how to develop a character, and parts of the story, even whole characters, could be missed if you made a wrong choice or missed a trigger.
And yet. And yet...it may be the truest interpretation of the 40K universe, and I couldn't stop playing it. This is the case of a great set of characters, story, lore, and atmosphere being hindered my mechanics and story design.
I enjoyed it. A lot. But I didn't love it. This is a game that required editing.
Look, I appreciate when developers stuff a game with content. But take a look at Mass Effect 2 and Witcher 3. The former had a clear concise story, where every piece of content either advanced the plot or developed the character. The latter had a ton of content, but it was all well written, top quality, and often optional. Two different approaches that married strong storytelling with gameplay.
Rogue Trader missed the mark on that at times but I thought they did a good job with character development and the 40K vibe. But of course, that's just IMO.
Just finished playing Tales of Monkey Island last night, completing my playthrough of all the older Monkey Island games—a replay of the first three games (albeit all first played a very long time ago), but this was the first time for Escape and Tales.
I wasn't so convinced about Tales initially, not really gelling with Tell-Tale Games' approach, but I warmed to it more as I progressed through the episodes. I think partly because it took a little while to find its own narrative footing, rather than just seeming to be a continuation of the previous games without much new to show for itself.
(I might also have been a bit burned out by playing the original four Lucasarts games in quick succession beforehand.)
That just leaves Return to Monkey Island to play, which I've been looking forward to for a little while now.
Finished up Metro Awakening. Ended up being a very good game after the initial bugs were resolved.
No Artyom in this one. You play a doctor in search for his wife (save the princess). It's a complete story and wraps up nice enough and helps explain one of the Metro phenomenons from the games. (Update: Looks like this is a prequel to the 1st Metro game. I'm replaying it on the side and Artyom just met up with the character you play in Awakening - voiced by the same actor).
On the way you'll encounter the typical Metro things like radiated areas, attacks from the pig/rat like monsters, stealth sections with humans, those god-awful spiders, and of course spend time traveling through and listening to people talk in the metros.
The game is not as interactive with the environment as I hoped. In HL: Alyx you could pretty much interact with almost everything. Here it's pretty limited. It does keep the game moving but a missed opportunity, especially for this game where you'll want to be scrounging around for ammo.
You're pretty much stuck on a single path with some branching dead-ends. I wasn't as bummed about that as it kept the story progressing and they kept things interesting enough. But it would have been nice to have some areas to really freely explore.
Weapon selection is limited but they chose a nice array of weapons. Pistol, an awesome shotgun, crossbow, AK rifle, blowgun, grenades. Each has their uses for certain situations.
Game works great in VR and has all those lovely VR things. You'll be clicking near your head to turn the lamp on and off, reaching over your left shoulder to grab your utility backpack, and then over your right shoulder to grab your gun backpack. You'll be winding the portable generator to charge it. Twisting off your mask filter and popping new ones. Wiping condensation off your mask. Holding the blowgun up to your mouth to shoot. They did a pretty great job with all these interactive elements in the game. Your hands will be busy.
I played the game initially on PCVR. Graphics are decent. Some of the character models are not that great and some stuff could be higher texture resolution. But there are some wow moments in how good they got the lighting/shadows in some areas.
I'm playing it again on the Quest 3 on the hardest difficulty. And yeah, the visuals take a big hit. But the game is all there - it's actually pretty amazing. I'm also using Quest Game Optimizer to increase resolution 13%. This has helped cut down on the jaggies and helped a bit on cleaning up some of the low-rez textures. I also upped the refresh rate from 72hz to 90hz which makes the game pretty smooth. But after Batman you can see the Quest 3 is being underutilized in this game. It could look so much better. Hopefully they'll make some Q3 enhancements.
Great time for VR though. Either Behemoth or Alien is coming out next and can't wait to jump into both of those.
Finished up Metro Awakening. Ended up being a very good game after the initial bugs were resolved.
No Artyom in this one. You play a doctor in search for his wife (save the princess). It's a complete story and wraps up nice enough and helps explain one of the Metro phenomenons from the games. (Update: Looks like this is a prequel to the 1st Metro game. I'm replaying it on the side and Artyom just met up with the character you play in Awakening - voiced by the same actor).
On the way you'll encounter the typical Metro things like radiated areas, attacks from the pig/rat like monsters, stealth sections with humans, those god-awful spiders, and of course spend time traveling through and listening to people talk in the metros.
The game is not as interactive with the environment as I hoped. In HL: Alyx you could pretty much interact with almost everything. Here it's pretty limited. It does keep the game moving but a missed opportunity, especially for this game where you'll want to be scrounging around for ammo.
You're pretty much stuck on a single path with some branching dead-ends. I wasn't as bummed about that as it kept the story progressing and they kept things interesting enough. But it would have been nice to have some areas to really freely explore.
Weapon selection is limited but they chose a nice array of weapons. Pistol, an awesome shotgun, crossbow, AK rifle, blowgun, grenades. Each has their uses for certain situations.
Game works great in VR and has all those lovely VR things. You'll be clicking near your head to turn on/off the lamp, reaching over your shoulder left shoulder to grab your utility backpack, and over your right shoulder to grab your gun backpack. You'll be winding the portable generator to charge it. Twisting off your mask filter and popping new ones on. Wiping condensation off your mask. Holding the blowgun up to your mouth to shoot. They did a pretty great job with all these interactive elements in the game. Your hands will be busy.
I played the game initially on PCVR. Graphics are decent. Some of the character models are not that great and some stuff could be higher texture resolution. But there are some wow moments in how good they got the lighting/shadows in some areas.
I'm playing it again on the Quest 3 on the hardest difficulty. And yeah, the visuals take a big hit. But the game is all there - it's actually pretty amazing. I'm also using Quest Game Optimizer to increase resolution 13%. This has helped cut down on the jaggies and helped a bit on cleaning up some of the low-rez textures. I also upped the refresh rate from 72hz to 90hz which makes the game pretty smooth. But after Batman you can see the Quest 3 is being underutilized in this game. It could look so much better. Hopefully they'll make some Q3 enhancements.
Great time for VR though. Either Behemoth or Alien is coming out next and can't wait to jump into both of those.
Cool! I'm gonna get that for PSVR2 eventually.
UFO50
Calling UFO50 complete for my personal goals. I’ve tried all 50 games, some for as little as 5 minutes and some for 3-4 hours, to a total of ~25 hours, with a completion of 6 gold, 0 cherry. Played entirely on Steam Deck. I love the concept of this ridiculous project. The games are amazingly diverse and well developed. But I just didn’t have a lot of fun actually playing it.
I grew up in the 80’s. My first consoles were the Atari 2600, Colecovision, and NES. I’m experienced in the challenge and nostalgia of this era. I love so much of what UFO50 is doing. The amount of effort that went into making each of these games feel like they *could* have come from the reported years, but also channeling a fascinating mix of genres and incorporating so much modern design sensibilities (including a bunch of board game design ideas), is a work of art.
Yet, I kinda hated most of the games. I’m incredibly frustrated by single point of failure games, and a whole ton of them had that either directly or indirectly implemented. There are baffling choices that make otherwise fascinating games into bizarre frustrating experiences. It feels intentional in a very unfun way. The exploration and trying to figure out the mechanics of the game as you play are part of the charm. But the game could do *something* to help the player. If each game had its own custom manual that you could skim through, it would make a massive difference and feel authentic. Again, I get that the trial and error and experimentation is a lot of the experience. But I just hated it, and felt like my time was being wasted over and over, because I could feel I’m missing something but couldn’t figure out what I’m supposed to be doing without wasting hours of bashing my head against it.
I’m being pretty critical overall because there’s so much I love about UFO50, except the actual playing of it. This could have been so much more player friendly and respectful of the player’s time, but instead it feels actively antagonistic and disrespectful. In the end, I’d probably rate it as a 7/10. I wish I liked it in practice as much as I like it in theory.
Finished Castlevania Symphony of the Night (PS1).
Not sure why I had never played this before, despite most of the podcasts I listen to having sung its praises for years. Great exploration, great music, the 2D artwork looks great. I found the second castle a very nice change of pace as opposed to the first one: it's pretty much completely open from the get go since I already had all the traversal tools I would ever get, so it was just a matter of picking a direction and going (and doing my best to survive, since the difficulty can be brutal).
The big problem I have with the game: The UI is a disaster. Using a consumable item is a complicated mess, where I had to equip it as a weapon, and then use it. Also there are magic powers, but I barely used any.
Picked up a new emulation handheld, a Retroid Pocket Mini, and I've been putting it through its paces, rolling credits on three different retro games over the past couple weeks:
Wendy: Every Witch Way (GBC):
A charming little character platformer with a fun gravity-switching mechanic. Nothing incredibly innovative, just solid controls and level design with just enough of a twist to keep things interesting. Nice difficulty curve, it starts out nice and easy and slowly ramps things up. Never becomes insanely difficult, never wears out its welcome.
Metal Slug Advance (GBA):
A pretty short little run-and-gun, only five stages. It was okay. I abused save states pretty hard to get through it faster. Very pretty, tight controls, and the difficulty was largely pretty well-tuned; you have enough of a life bar that it feels like you can make a mistake or two without getting punished too hard, but you're squishy enough that you can't just sit there and tank hits. The final boss is kinda BS though, I definitely wouldn't have gotten through it without save states.
E.V.O.: The Search for Eden (SNES):
This is such a weird one. You start as a fish, and you have to eat other fish to gain evolution points to evolve better body parts. You progress through amphibian, dinosaur, bird, and mammal stages. There's... sort of a story, doled out in dribs and drabs. The spirit of Gaia wants you to evolve until you can join her in Eden, and there are aliens seeding the earth with crystals that mess with the evolutionary process, and... I dunno. The translation isn't great, but I don't think that's actually much of a problem. I think it's just... weird.
It's not a "good" game in a lot of ways. The hitboxes and animations are wonky, and the strategy tends to come down to "abuse the wonky hitboxes and animations to stunlock the enemy before they can stunlock you." Getting enough evolution points can get very grindy in places. The stages are mostly just flat planes that you pass through from left to right. The bosses are all either too easy or just plain B.S. The body part upgrades do that frustrating thing where you don't unlock more advanced upgrades by buying the lower-priced ones, you always have access to all of them, so it's always like, "well, I COULD buy the next one I can afford... or I could just keep saving up forever until I can max out everything." Also it doesn't actually tell you what any given body part does, so abusing save states to try different things out is highly recommended.
Still, it's colorful, the dribs and drabs of story are evocative, there are lots of weird secrets to discover (like turning into a mermaid), and the final boss is a giant alien c*ck and balls. Not making that up. Seriously, play the game. You fight a giant alien c*ck and balls at the end. If you've got an appetite for early-90s Japanese weirdness, you could do a lot worse, especially with a GameFAQs guide and save state abuse and/or some Retroarch cheats to smooth some of the rough edges.
E.V.O.: The Search for Eden (SNES):
....
I always wanted this one in the mid 90's and eyed it longingly in the Blockbuster "formerly rental games" sale bin. It wasn't until about 15 years ago that I got to play it. The unique setting and ideas were fascinating to me and I kept at it until I hit a brick wall around the halfway (?) point, going up against a queen wasp boss who, as you said, stunlocked me over and over again.
Never went back after that, but I do sometimes think about it, wondering if a different build might have fared better. Youtube longplays make it look easy, of course.
Evo is a really interesting game but your right that it can be a pain. I only beat it with cheats. Still worth it for his unique it was.
Great time for VR though. Either Behemoth or Alien is coming out next and can't wait to jump into both of those.
I've been out of the VR game since the original PSVR and am considering getting back in with an upgrade. Recommendations on the best modern unit to get right now for mid-range pricing? I don't need top of the line but don't want bargain basement either. It's more about a good range of games to choose from.
I just wrapped up Little Nightmares II and unsurprisingly loved it. The emotional draw in this one is deep and will hit you like a ton of bricks in specific moments. I went in not actually knowing that it was a stealth PREQUEL to the first LN game, so it was very confusing when my companion turned out to be Six from the original.
I delayed on getting into this because while I love the world, atmosphere, and environments, the trial-and-error instant death gameplay drove me crazy in the first game. It’s still here in this game but I pushed through and was very glad I did. The way that the gameplay scenarios and mechanics blend with the world lore is just fascinating and I’m eagerly anticipating the third entry. Hopefully the publisher change doesn’t impact it negatively.
I’ve also been remiss in updates on my playthrough of the entire Kirby series. Next up for me was Kirby’s Pinball Land on the Gameboy, which was a fun little distraction. I do love pinball games but am generally not very good at them. Here, the ball physics are less than perfect in favor of the player and I’m fine with that. A fun playthrough if for no other reason than to see how they incorporate the traditional Kirby enemies into pinball boards.
Next was another spinoff game in Kirby’s Dream Course for the SNES. This is a WEIRD golf game, and I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for the course design meetings. Each hole of the course is a puzzle, the player required to clear targets in any order with a mixture of shot types, spin, power, and a variety special powers. You can traverse the course in surprisingly creative ways, even using (or avoiding) special tiles on the course, like warps, conveyor belts, and more so that eventually, what looks like an impossible task for the number of “par” shots becomes possible IF you can plan and execute it. I understand that this game has a bit of a cult following, with players competing with very complex shot combinations to clear courses with a minimum of strokes. I enjoyed the game for what it was, but the difficulty ramps up aggressively in some places, eventually forcing a course restart if you run out of lives. Another interesting diversion from the traditional Kirby gameplay. I’m actually surprised that we didn’t get a Kirby’s Bowling Land game after this…
And next was …. oh, Kirby’s Avalanche on the SNES. I’ll be honest, I gave this one enough time to confirm that it’s literally just Puyo Puyo with Kirby characters. No special gameplay variations inspired by the Kirby game world, just basic Puyo Puyo and, well, I don’t like Puyo Puyo. It’s never clicked with me while do enjoy other competitive puzzlers, so I abandoned this game fairly quickly. If you want another Puyo Puyo game, this is definitely one.
And then… Kirby’s Dream Land 2 on the Gameboy. It was initially disappointing to go back to the Gameboy from the prior platformer on the NES and for most of the game, I was underwhelmed. It’s not difficult, actually being EASIER than prior games because of the added powers with the animal companions. But then it (finally) hit me. I’m playing these games wrong, and I did initially on the NES game as well so I'm not sure why I forgot it. Yes, you can play them as platformers, with the goal to reach the end of each level, and that’s decent content and enough for younger players. But for more experienced players, it’s a PUZZLE platformer, in that you can only unlock the true final boss and ending by collecting the Rainbow Drops in each region, which requires a specific combination of animal companion and power-up. It can be very trial and error, but the level traversal is so fun that it’s rarely a problem. Some levels with the auto-propulsion forcing you through the environment and into obstacles became a bit frustrating, but not too bad. And the final secret boss, once reached, was not as difficult as in prior games. Overall, this game significantly raised my respect for the series, as there is far more under the surface if you are willing to dig in and find it.
Crawley wrote:Great time for VR though. Either Behemoth or Alien is coming out next and can't wait to jump into both of those.
I've been out of the VR game since the original PSVR and am considering getting back in with an upgrade. Recommendations on the best modern unit to get right now for mid-range pricing? I don't need top of the line but don't want bargain basement either. It's more about a good range of games to choose from.
The only one I have experience with is the Quest 3 and have been more than happy with that. Plenty of native games and new ones coming each week. Also get all the PCVR games you can play over Steam via streaming or direct link. And have access to Rift store which has plenty of triple AAA VR titles from way back (Lone Echo, Aagards Wrath 1, Stormlands, etc) - plus there's cross buy on Rift store for quite a few games so can get the best of both worlds for those games that support it.
Quest 3 is also established and has a number of accessories for the headset. I have prescription lenses and a very comfortable head strap that comes with a fan and awesome external battery.
They did just release the Quest 3S. It's essentially the Quest 2 but with the Quest 3 computer hardware on it. But its at a much lower price than the Quest 3.
Narita Boy is done. It took me some 20 hours, but can be done much faster for sure. I was just too impatient to learn enemy, and especially boss attack patterns so ended up dying way to much before I'd switch my brain to the "patience" algorithm... It has to be done, attack spamming just doesn't work here. Obviously, it should be played with a controller.
It is a phenomenal game, a quasi 8-bit graphics side scroller gem that also sports an amazing soundtrack.
The story is nice, the game looks great and the action is fun.
I'll have to look into more games like this...
Ori and The Will of the Wisps is complete. Been a couple years since I did the first game but this one was a lot of fun. Emotional story. Solid gameplay. A couple of annoying boss fights. I didn't like how the checkpoints worked with some of the bosses and escape sequences. Thought they could have made it a bit less repetitive. But that was maybe 3 times I really got annoyed and had to take a break. Overall much fun was had.
Finished the Black Ops 6 campaign a few weeks ago. Good stuff. Great pacing and variety. Stealth mechanics in stealth missions are not great but guess what, the shooting gameplay in COD is some of the best in the business so you can blast your way out of most situations. Likeable characters and relatively engaging dynamics among your motley band of covert operators but don't expect anything much beyond the cliche "surprise! TheRs a moLe In Da CiA". In classic BO fashion there are a couple trippy, mind-altering sequences which I started off hating but ended up quite enjoying although both instances kind of overstay their welcome a bit.
The Robert Redford character was not nearly as Robert Redford-y as I was expecting him to be.
Quest 3 is also established and has a number of accessories for the headset. I have prescription lenses and a very comfortable head strap that comes with a fan and awesome external battery.
Thanks! That's kind of the direction I was leaning, with the Quest 3. I do like having a good range of options both through their storefront and Steam.
I got the Ghosts of Tsushima platinum trophy! Actually finished the story months ago, but fired it up today and realized I could get the trophy within a few hours.
Resident Evil 4 - Separate Ways The DLC were you play as Ada. I finished the remake a few months back & Separate Ways was something I'd never played back when the original came out on the GameCube.
It's just top class, cheesy acting & dialogue aside everything else is top tier. The combat I just love, getting headshots with your rifle from a distance or when an enemy is rushing towards you taking them out by the knees, they even go face first down stairs when the situation arises. The variety of the environments & tactically placed enemies really do elevate RE4 in general right to the cream of the crop.
The economy is honed to perfection, collecting ammo (that is just scarce enough), jewels that go in ornaments that if filled sell for a bucket load of money which you can then focus on upgrading or buying new weapons. It's so damn good, it actively makes you want to scout the environments for any hidden treasures or money lying about.
Seeing the RE4 story from Ada's perspective is cool, especially knowing what environments & big moments Leon went through in the base game. Ada sort of mirrors Leon's path so you get to see familiar locations but in different ways.
The grappling hook makes Ada more mobile than Leon, this is most useful in melee when you can shoot it out, latch onto enemies & come in with wheel kick or backflip style maneuver.
All in all what a ride & I'd recommend anyone who likes action games to give this a go.
Just finished Disco Elysium.
Ho boy.
This is going to be one insane review to write.
Just finished Disco Elysium.
Ho boy.
This is going to be one insane review to write.
Can't wait to read it.
I played DE once and got myself killed just after finding the car. It felt so right that I did not deem it's ok to reload and did not play since. I count it under my "finished" games, regardless of probably not seing 80% of it or more. It's been a couple years since I last ran it, at least.
I'll probably try another playthrough from scratch, I think there was one last big update for the game after i last saw it. I don't remember almost any details, I'm sure it will feel fresh.
Just finished Disco Elysium.
Ho boy.
This is going to be one insane review to write.
Disco Elysium isn’t so much a game you play as a game that plays you.
Wrapped up 100% completion of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, played on Switch (docked) for ~30 hours. It’s the debut of Zelda (finally!) having her own game and I think they nailed it. It mixed my favorite parts of the last decades (!) of Zelda games into something incredible. The creativity and open ended puzzle solving of Breath/Tears, the incredible art and charm of Link’s Awakening Remake, the heart and spirit of Ocarina/Twilight, constant dabs from the history of Link to the Past/Between Worlds, the humor of Windwaker, and yet still created mechanics and a style all its own. It’s so, so good. And I *love* that it’s another fully fledged girl game (without being a “girl game”), in the same year that Peach finally got her own proper (decent!) game too.
Seriously, the attention to detail is amazing. So many little carefully placed objects in every cozy house, unique animations just constantly, and rockin’ music that you’d only hear at like one place. The vibes were immaculate. You could feel the careful consideration of what it means for Nintendo to finally give Zelda the spotlight after all these years. The fake-out beginning as Link and then giving the reins to Zelda. All the fascinating backstory of Zelda discovering who Link is by exploring and finding all the people he impacted colored it as a new world but also gave depth to your previous adventures as Link. You could finally feel the result of your previous adventures. But, also, the *frequent* implication that Link kept getting credit for Zelda’s work was delightfully on point.
The main feature of the game is the echo system, which I found to be an ingenious way to turn classic 3/4 Birds Eye view gameplay into an open ended puzzle world. I loved you could solve the many puzzles in a hundred ways, including super dumb brute force methods. My kids have enjoyed playing it too, and it’s fascinating seeing them solve puzzles in completely different ways from me.
I’ve heard some complaints about the combat and feeling too indirectly involved, but I loved it. I frequently play summoner classes in games. They usually live or die by the AI’s ability to make either *good* choices or *reliable* choices that you can play around to succeed. This combat nailed both of those feelings, and I had a lot of fun trying out various mobs. I loved that Zelda has a completely different style than Link, and even included a direct sword fighter option when needed too!
I was surprised by the depth and heart to the story. They touched on a lot of dark topics (Conde, lost children, execution, the main villain), and much of the imagery was quite scary (fading away in the still world), but mixed with such humor and cute art style that it wasn’t completely terrifying to kids. And some pretty huge events happened that I don’t think have ever happened in a Zelda game. Also, there are a *ridiculous* number of side quests in the game, which are surprisingly well designed and charming.
Other details I loved:
- Bind and Reverse Bond are genius additions to the toolkit.
- Costumes were excellent.
- The accessory system, the large number of accessories, and the system for increasing slots were great.
- Dungeons actually felt like dungeons again!
- Stamp guy - lol.
It has just a few weak points:
- My biggest complaint by far is the energy meter (powering your Link-mode) should have automatically renewed over time. It felt like too limited a resource that I was way too precious with when I used it.
- Automatons were too tedious to create and use. Winding them up *and* requiring repairs made them basically never worth the trouble.
- Smoothies were a bit annoying to make. But I did love their inclusion.
- A couple challenges were slightly overtuned (especially the short flag race).
- Some of the cutscenes or transitions that took control away from the character went on slightly too long.
Overall, this is easily one of my favorites of the year. I’m waffling between 9/10 and 10/10, and I think I’ll land on 10/10. I have no idea what else I could possibly want from a game like this. It’s near-perfect.
Completed a 100%-discovery run of Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, played ~19 hours on Deck, docked to my big screen. I played the entire game with my wife, as a puzzle-solving coop challenge. There are about 5 more achievements I’m not going to bother with, including a speed run challenge that I don’t think is worth it. There’s a lot we liked about the game: very clever puzzles, incredible style, great atmosphere, super creative twists on presentation. But we strongly disliked the storytelling and overall story, the nigh-useless hint system, and felt several puzzle sequences near the end became way too repetitive and tedious to solve.
We managed ~75% completely by ourselves, 20% with minor hints/suggestions (using a very handy Steam guide), and 5% with more significant hints. It’s a tough game to recommend. If you’re into puzzles and if the story vibes with you (which, unfortunately, I really can’t get into because it’s spoiler heavy), then it’ll be a 9/10 great experience. But if you get frustrated and lost, and dislike the overall story (as we did), it barely cracks a 6/10, even with so many clever ideas implemented surprisingly well, and in a way that only a video game could do. My gut feeling is it’s a 7/10, but when I recall all the times I thought “oh that’s cool”, it’s more of an 8/10. I’m glad we played it, but we were hoping it’d just end for the last like 8 hours we were playing. We kept going because we were curious where the story was going, and that didn’t wrap up satisfactorily for us.
Ok. Here we go. Buckle up, folks...
"It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is-“
ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN: He is nothing. He is oblivion. He sleeps with nary a thought. He is in a void where no reviews need to be written.
LIMBIC SYSTEM: You are wrong. The meat puppet is aware. He is weak and shameful. He has completed Disco Elysium as if that is some sort of accomplishment, but it is not. He’s just a tired, decaying lump of flesh staring at a glowing rectangle with words on it.
SAVOIRE FAIRE: If he doesn’t write the review, he will no longer be cool. People will shun him.
SHIVERS: A homeless Budo sits in a dark alleyway. He swallows the dregs of his freezing coffee. He doesn’t even drink alcohol and criticizes himself for not being a true raging alcoholic of a homeless person. Just like the protagonist in the game.
VOLITION: He must write the review article. He must if only to provide closure for himself.
ENDURANCE: Despite the pain, he will complete the review. He will carry on until the review is complete or he dies on the way. There is no choice.
INTERFACE: Budo’s fingers guide rapidly and effortlessly across the keyboard thoughts as ideas race explosively from brain to fingertips.
ELECTROCHEMISTRY: The double espresso has finally kicked in. Let’s ride this caffeinated wave, baby!
If you have played Disco Elysium already, then the above dialogue makes perfect sense to you. If not, then how can I describe this game?
CONCEPTUALIZATION: Describe the overall vision for the game. That’s a good start.
ENCYCLOPEDIA: Disco Elysium is an RPG.
Kind of. Well, let’s start with that. On paper, Disco Elysium is described as an RPG. Well…yes. And no.
LOGIC: It is a game where you play a role. Therefore, it is by definition an RPG.
Ok, yes. You start the game waking up in a hotel room in your underwear with a bottle in your hand and quickly discover you’re a police officer investigating the murder of a man who is hanging by his neck in the courtyard outside the building, and he’s been dangling there for a week while you basically went on an epic alcoholic bender to the point where you have near complete amnesia and stink of booze and…
EMPATHY: The readers are losing interest. Get to why it is not an RPG.
Oh. Yeah. So yes, the story part of this is that you are a detective solving a murder, and it involves a complex interwoven story of suspects, factions, victims, the police, druggies, veterans, children, elderly, union bosses, psychos, burnouts, survivors, scientists, even a bunch of teenagers discovering techno.
EMPATHY: Techno? The reader is lost now.
It doesn't matter, because that’s not really the story or even the role you’re playing. Heck, that’s not even the real point of the game. If I’m being honest, Disco Elysium is nothing more than the most complicated, massively detailed dialogue tree in the history of role playing games. You do spend a lot of time in this dialogue tree interacting with the diverse group of people mentioned above, but the true characters are the massive crowd of internal voices that fight for your attention and guide the true narrative.
DRAMA: The plot unfolds…
The true narrative is determining who you are. Who you were. And perhaps most importantly, who you want to be. All while your inner angels and demons chime in to help influence this decision.
PERCEPTION: A Goodjer tilts her head slightly. She questions what you mean by that.
Who are you? Well, to put it bluntly, you’re a mess. And the game will remind you of that over and over again. The reminders will come from your inner voices. Your dreams. Your appearance in the mirror. How other people talk to you and react to you. Your journal. Even your character portrait all unite to clearly define you as an absolute pariah of a human.
And that is where the game really comes to life.
DRAMA: The sentence above pulled out from the paragraph with the dramatic twist is a good way to intrigue the readers. Good job!
While I was playing this game, even though I recognized how truly unique an experience this was, my mind still kept searching for a few analogies and comparators to anchor the feeling. The first comparator that hit me was that Disco Elysium is the mid-life crisis alcoholic version of Pixar’s Inside Out, but with a hell of a lot more voices in your brain and most of them not looking out for your best interests. And this decision by the developers ZA/UM works.
Let’s be honest, we all have that inner dialogue going on to some extent, and it’s not always positive. In Disco Elysium, however, this inner script is dialed up to 11 and can actually get in the way sometimes of just progressing the story, but again that really is the whole point of the game here - how you respond to the conversations in your noggin. That murder mystery is just the canvas for the art playing out in your brain, and then it's up to you to determine which thoughts will control your body.
PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT: NO thoughts control your body. You are a machine. A muscular, manly machine of indescribable potential. This engine has no limits. No thoughts are going to get in the way of this physical juggernaut!
Quiet. As you continue the game, you quickly discover you have another mirror into helping determine who you are and who you want to be. It’s your partner Kim Kitsuragi - he joins you from the beginning as your ad hoc partner from another precinct to support you. But he's not just there to help you solve the murder. He supports or criticizes your decisions. He offers an objective perspective on your dialogues with other characters, and acts as a sounding board for your thoughts and decisions. He is a voice of reason, your Spock to the messed-up Kirk that you are. Over time, Kim slowly evolves into one of the best sidekicks ever in an RPG, but one that most people will overlook because he doesn’t seek attention.
As the game continues, I realize I’m not just playing Disco Elysium. I’m replaying Planescape: Torment. The parallels are unavoidable - in both games, you wake up from a death state as a blank slate and need to piece together your past to determine your future. The story of Planescape is driven by answering a single question: What can change the nature of a man? The answer to that question -
HALF LIGHT: Don’t ruin Planescape: Torment! No spoilers!
No worries. The answer to that question from Planescape is also applicable in Disco Elysium, but you also have the option to answer that question differently, and it can involve booze and tons of delusion.
As you walk around Revachol and gather the history of the neighboorhood, which is in the larger district of Martinaise and the even broader region of Jamrock (the map is actually quite small – this is a game of depth not breadth territory-wise), you learn the history of this place and why it is run down and how everyone is trying to salvage some life and some meaning. It was then I realized I’m replaying Kentucky Route Zero. In both games you wander the setting while interacting with the remnants of a population trying to make due with their deteriorating circumstances. Like you, they are trying to salvage what is left in order to - if not succeed - at least minimize the loss. And there’s a beauty in that decay both visually and thematically. Disco Elysium succeeds here. This is a pretty game despite the depressing theme and setting.
PERCEPTION: A yawn is heard in the distance. A reader of this review begins to nod off slightly, their boredom increasing.
PAIN THRESHOLD: Your fingers begin to hurt. Countless synapses shoot a fiery message of pain and torment into your tendons.
EMPATHY: They all hate you now. This review is too long and they’re scrolling for that stupid bold sentence you always write to summarize the game.
Fine! I’ll wrap it up. Disco Elysium was frustrating at times for me. The game starts slow and you feel like you’re lost (even though that’s the point). At times it can be depressing as hell, so you need to be looking for a melancholy experience when diving in to this title. Also, and I can't stress this enough...
LOGIC: The fact that you stated you cannot stress this enough emphasizes your ability to stress this enough.
...this is not a game that you can really "win." Sure, you can solve the murder, but NOBODY feels amazing at the end of this game. I believe I actually achieved the best possible ending, and even then I felt like all I had done is simply salvage the least bad option in a series of potentially terrible outcomes.
EMPATHY: Good way to subtly tell everyone how good you are at video games. Everyone will think you're cool now, even though you are not. We all know you're not.
So to summarize,
ENDURANCE: FINALLY
Disco Elysium is a police drama RPG that is hiding a mental exercise in determining how you want to land as you plummet towards the reality of your deteriorating existence; will it be a swan dive into disaster, an ugly belly flop intentionally causing damage to you and everyone around you, or will you land on your feet with just a sprained ankle?
ENCYCLOPEDIA: The summary sentence is long but supported by a semicolon.
SHIVERS: In front of his laptop, a Goodjer rolls his eyes at the collective, rambling drama of this review. He contemplates how he can justifiably mock Budo at a future date.
Seriously, I liked this game a lot, and I expect it will be one of those games that I grow to love in its memory. In either case, it was a great time feeling not so great.
By the way, I hate Cuno with a passion.
WE ALL AGREE ON THIS.
Up next, maybe some WoW? Do I dive down the Yakuza rabbit hole? Expeditions: Rome? More Baldur's Gate 3? So many good ways to wrap up the year.
Yes, Sasu! Zelda is amazing.
I did not 100%. Might go back for some heart pieces and whatever. But it was amazing start to finish.
SYMPATHY: We don't hate you.
PERCEPTION: Fantastic review!
Loved your review, Budo. I've never played the game, but I've always been curious about it.
As for the games I've recently finished...
Creepy Tale: Some Other Place
This is a point-and-click adventure game (until it isn't) with creepy hand-drawn graphics, creepy music, and a creepy story, so you can see the game is aptly titled. I got it because of the art direction, and had a wonderful time with it. The puzzles were the right amount of difficulty for me, the length -about four hours- was perfect, and the atmosphere was satisfyingly creepy. It is the fourth game in the Creepy Tale series, but I believe they are not connected. At least, I didn't feel like I was missing anything by not having played the previous three. So, if you're in the mood for a short, creepy adventure, check out this game, and perhaps the other three as well.
Resident Evil: Village
This is only my second Resident Evil game (RE2 remake was the first), and I absolutely loved it. It kept me engaged from beginning to end as it kept me guessing what was going to happen next. I loved the four main locations (five, I guess, if you count the village itself), the music, the creatures, the story, the tension... Everything. So much so that, right after rolling credits, I started...
Shadows of Rose
This is RE: Village's DLC. It's about four hours long, and it takes place sixteen years after the events that transpired in the original game. Given the title, you might have guessed that you don't play as Ethan Winters but as his daughter Rose, who finds herself in the titular village for a series of reasons I won't reveal. The game reuses both Castle Dimitrescu and House Beneviento, but does so in a way that's different enough so as to avoid tiresome repetition (especially after having just finished the base game), and manages to be even creepier than the original (the dolls in House Beneviento --my goodness!). All in all, I thought Shadows of Rose was a great little adventure, and I am very glad it was part of the Gold Edition of Village, since I probably wouldn't have bought it otherwise, and I would have missed out on a wonderful time!
Great review of one of my all time favorites, Budo. This is definitely one that my mind comes back to more than almost any game I can think of.
By the way, I hate Cuno with a passion.
WE ALL AGREE ON THIS.
Oh yeah. I gotta talk about Cuno. He's such a memorably awful character. I hated him on a level that rivals everyone short of Joffrey Baratheon.
Surprisingly, I'm now very sympathetic to him.
During my playthrough, I found out his father is an abusive drug addict who Cuno still sees as a terrifying monster despite being on his deathbed.
His mother doesn't seem to be in the picture.
His only "friend" is a manipulative sociopath. He's completely terrified of her as well, and probably for good reason. She most likely killed a young child as part of a snuff radio broadcast (I wasn't 100% clear on this but reading various comments later, the evidence seems to confirm it). He uses drugs to deal with trauma, but much of his worst behavior is for her benefit.
Anyway, the really interesting thing is this. I would never allow this to happen, even in a future playthrough, because Kim is the best buddy ever, but I've seen some videos... If you screw up the mercenary tribunal, Kim gets shot and badly wounded and disappears for the rest of the game. It's Cuno who tends to you as you recover from your own injuries. Then he accompanies you until the case is closed as a wannabe detective sidekick, alternating between annoying and helpful. It seems clear that he is absolutely desperate to get out of his shitty situation and is in the initial stages of latching on to your character as a role model/surrogate father figure (God help you both). At the very end, he begs to go with you, and you can convince the RCM members to waive the age requirement, allowing him to become a junior officer in training, getting you the achievement- "Recruit Detective Kuuno de Ruyter".
I like to think that's the beginning of his redemption story, and imagine with some amusement him living with Harry, trying to clean up his act and fit in with the other junior officers and detectives, still reflexively calling everyone "pigs" for a good while, before eventually finding his place in the world.
E.V.O.: The Search for Eden (SNES):
This is such a weird one. You start as a fish, and you have to eat other fish to gain evolution points to evolve better body parts. You progress through amphibian, dinosaur, bird, and mammal stages. There's... sort of a story, doled out in dribs and drabs. The spirit of Gaia wants you to evolve until you can join her in Eden, and there are aliens seeding the earth with crystals that mess with the evolutionary process, and... I dunno. The translation isn't great, but I don't think that's actually much of a problem. I think it's just... weird.
It's not a "good" game in a lot of ways. The hitboxes and animations are wonky, and the strategy tends to come down to "abuse the wonky hitboxes and animations to stunlock the enemy before they can stunlock you." Getting enough evolution points can get very grindy in places. The stages are mostly just flat planes that you pass through from left to right. The bosses are all either too easy or just plain B.S. The body part upgrades do that frustrating thing where you don't unlock more advanced upgrades by buying the lower-priced ones, you always have access to all of them, so it's always like, "well, I COULD buy the next one I can afford... or I could just keep saving up forever until I can max out everything." Also it doesn't actually tell you what any given body part does, so abusing save states to try different things out is highly recommended.
Still, it's colorful, the dribs and drabs of story are evocative, there are lots of weird secrets to discover (like turning into a mermaid), and the final boss is a giant alien c*ck and balls. Not making that up. Seriously, play the game. You fight a giant alien c*ck and balls at the end. If you've got an appetite for early-90s Japanese weirdness, you could do a lot worse, especially with a GameFAQs guide and save state abuse and/or some Retroarch cheats to smooth some of the rough edges.
Holy craps - I'd just played this on my Miyoo Mini a few months ago, almost as a dare. I never had a SNES as a kid and a buddy of mine was recounting how weird but neat it was. I started playing and just kinda got sucked in. Absolutely not worth the time, all the faults HBI2K mentions are absolutely the case. I genuinely don't know why I continued through it, but I did. It wasn't terribly long, maybe a few hours at most. I didn't realize about the final boss before, but you're really not wrong - 
It was a weird one, to be sure.
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