Stay Warm With The Pile - Pile of Shame February 2023

Formatted list:

Declaring:
Catherine: Full Body - (PS4/multi) - I briefly dabbled with the original version on 360, and it has remained on my mind since. Just passed the third nightmare and things are becoming more complex. What bothers me though, is that even when I try to be "good", I wake up to find out I've somehow been bad.
Hades - (PC/multi) - Played it very briefly middle of last year and didn't really get into it. That changed in a major way about a week ago. Have made it to the boss fight in Elysium once so far and got absolutely creamed. Feels like I need to do some major grinding to become more powerful.

Considering both of those games are much longer than they initially seem like they should be, that's all I'll commit to for now. I do hope to make progress in other games, such as Xenosaga Episode III, Anachronox, and Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak.

Spiritfarer (Switch/Multi)
Metroid: Samus Returns (3DS)
A Plague Tale: Innocence (Epic/Multi)

I think I'm pretty far into A Plague Tale: Innocence so I'm most confident about beating that one.

Don't want to add to Hemi's workload

I wrapped up Ys IX: Monstrum Nox this evening. As my first Ys game, it's quite the impressive "debut". I'm definitely looking forward to going back through the series. I've heard different opinions on that though. Now that my interest is piqued, better to start from the top with Ys Origin or check out Ys XIII: Lacrimosa of Dana next since it plays so similarly to Ys IX?

On my 45th attempt, I finally escaped the underworld! Hades is therefore not done, but "beaten"....once.

Everything everyone has said in the various GOTY threads is so true. I've never played much of any rouge-like or rogue-lite (except FTL, but got bored of it long before finishing it), but Hades makes me consider giving the genre more attention. So excellent in so many ways!

I escaped with the Stygian blade with a focus on Hoarding Slash and amassing as much wealth as I could. By the end I was well over 2000 Obol, checked my boon list, and....couldn't find Hoarding Slash in it. I had semi-inadvertently traded it by buying the anvil at the very end! I was about to write off the run, but then figured I'd spend all that cash at least.
Then I took down the final boss with just a sliver of health to spare anyway! WOOO!!!!

I have a feeling many more runs will be following.

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Just survived the fifth night in Catherine. Definitely enjoying it, but Cathy just doesn't take a cue! I ignore her at every opportunity, never reply to a text, and yet still can't get rid of her. What does it take?!?
Also, the new addition, Rin - am I seriously supposed to be interested in her? She's not a woman, she's a 12 year old girl in appearance and many of her mannerisms! Ick!
Things are becoming pretty creepy (in the scary sense) now, though, and I'm eager to see what happens next.

Reporting back in, finished both The Room and Kirby Star Allies with a week to spare.

Got the "good" Katherine ending in Catherine: Full Body last night.
That game....wow. Let's just say that the story goes places.

Puzzle gameplay is interesting and at times fun, but I was also glad that it would automatically bring me up to where I was when I had worked my way into an unwinnable situation. In doing so it would show me ways to do things I had missed before, and usually fixed the issue I had. Sorta cheating, but I didn't care.
The more interesting part is the character dialog and your interactions determining not only your outcome, but also who lives and who dies. Unfortunately, I lost a few companions along the way, but also managed to save some others.
The Full Body content initially seems well integrated in the game, but goes so far off the rails by the end that I just couldn't. The new love interest is generally a good character....except the appearance and mannerisms made Rin give off far too many "very underage" vibes for me to even consider going that route.

Thing is, there's a lot more going on with Rin, and taking that path is the only way to experience the additional stages the Full Body edition offers.
I watched a longplay and looked up the other endings though, and I'm ok with the one I got.

Also:

Overall, Catherine is a memorable experience and I'm really glad I finally gave it the time it deserved.

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Also played two FMV "choose your own adventure" movies from Wales Interactive: The Complex and Late Shift. Both have only been on the pile a few days, so not eligible. While The Complex looked more interesting to me at first - biolab accident threatens humanity - there were minor issues with how some scenes didn't completely reflect prior choices. It was never anything critical, but just enough to break the immersion slightly.
Late Shift, on the other hand, doesn't seem to suffer from these problems (to be fair, I only played through LS once, but The Complex twice), and is an altogether intense experience which I can truly recommend. Imagine you're a parking attendant, whose night shift goes horribly wrong when he gets taken hostage by a criminal gang. If that sounds intriguing, check this game out!

Did you have trouble with most stages after 22 or so, or am I just terrible at this game?

Looks like I never declared anything this month but I didn't finish anything I started either. So I'll add something to the March thread later this week. No sense in carrying over now.

I'm pretty terrible at these games, so my struggles started BEFORE that chapter. I will also openly state that I played the game on an emulator, so there was some save-state abuse in play. I'm not proud of it, but... single player rules yo!

I got Late Shift, The Complex, 5 Dates and Maid of Sker in the Wales Interactive bundle a few weeks ago when it was on sale for peanuts.
So far it was worth the money.