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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I haven't been as active in this thread lately due to new pet projects and such, but I am still kicking around DII for the moment. Maybe just every third evening though, casually exploring Act II. I think I'm at level 18 with my assassin, so slow and steady. I doubt I'll post much more unless I jump titles again or as a response to something y'all post up.

"Game on!"
*waddles the goal net back into the street*



p.s. I'm slowly becoming aware of my overuse of the word, "though."
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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear



I only play one game. And that's Apex Legends. I'm not very playful. And even that game I play thanks to boostings. Because myself it was difficult to promote the account. And with them it became easier and more time saved. For a year and a half the opinion has not once changed and this is sad on the one hand. After all, there is no constant assessment of the game. It changes drastically every 2-3 months. Along with the release of each season. And realizing I started to like playing the game. Everything is implemented at the highest level.



That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
I'm not sure if that "like" was for my Wayne's World reference, for noticing my use of the word, "though," or for stating that I probably won't be posting much after this. Assuming the latter, then my apologies in advance!

(not my game, not my characters)


I decided to have a go with Act II the other night while waiting for sleep to creep in. This Act is more confusing of a map than Act I as it's not as linear with several fake dungeons you might waste time crawling through. This needed more time devotion than I was willing to give it per session of play, which is why I figured I'd probably ease off at that point. Well, Diablo summoned me and I reluctantly agreed to log in, much like the drunkard follower introduced in the first cinematic

I found the correct Tomb of Tal Rasha and wound my way through. HOLY #$%#^ was this boss a major difficulty spike!!! So far, I've mowed through wave after wave of mindless zombie and lightning bug thingies. I have died a handful of times over the play of Acts I and II and, as a result, have spent more time grinding levels and gear to slow things down even more than the slug's pace standard that DII demands. But after introducing myself to the Act II boss and Lesser Evil, Duriel, I think I may need to slow down even more.

I've yet to really require strategy. Just rush in, kite the baddies, pop a potion when things slow down and repeat. Duriel put my archer down in three seconds. Me in five. Two attempts in, I realize that maybe an archer isn't the best bet for a hired companion. I swapped her for a a spearman. He lasted a bit longer. Sort of. OK FINE I have to plan this fight. It took me, I believe, eight attempts to finally kill this thing. Luckily, he doesn't regen after murdering me back to back and will stay at the level of health he was in, while gloating over my corpse until I return. Fine.

I killed him finally, but man was that brutal.

Online suggestions had one guy say to just go in completely naked and don't worry about gear or potions. Just slowly work him down over like 12 or more visits. That way you're not losing money on repairs or losing your primary gear with DII's death penalty leaving your stuff on your corpse, where you die. No time to collect with Duriel on your back!



I'd pretty much stopped playing video games altogether over the last few years, but a buddy of mine, after buying an Xbox Series X, gave me his old Xbox One. I signed up for Game Pass shortly afterwards. Here's a rundown of what I've played this year:


Banjo-Kazooie: Over 100 accessible games, many new releases included, and the first thing I play is a N64 game from over 20 years ago. I rented this from the video store a couple times as a kid and recall enjoying it quite a bit, but a weekend was never long enough to get very far into the game. I expected this to be a quick, easy playthrough, considering that the game is geared toward younger audiences with its cartoonish aesthetic and talking animals, but I found it deceptively challenging and time-consuming. I even had to resort to the occasional online walkthrough in order to find some cleverly hidden puzzle pieces. Overall, though, this was a fun nostalgia trip that has aged fairly well with its mix of puzzles, platforming and elementary combat. The lengthy final boss fight toes the line between frustrating tedium and challenging reward.

Injustice 2: I've never played the first Injustice, so I was a bit lost with the story and found the tone too dour, much like the DCEU as a whole. Portraying Superman as a villainous figure didn't sit well with me either. That said, the graphics and voice acting were excellent. (Having grown up watching Batman: The Animated Series, hearing Kevin Conroy's voice beneath the cowl is always a delight; my brain rejects anyone else as an imposter.) I'm used to a disappointing level of brevity from story modes in fighting games, so I appreciated that this one took several hours to complete. Special attacks are easy to remember, and the cutscenes that are triggered during super moves and scene transitions never grew old. The RPG elements, through rudimentary, add to the replay value, along with the seemingly infinite number of unlockables. Multiverse mode, which evolves daily if not hourly, provided a few enjoyable handicaps while I tried my hand with various characters from the deep roster. (For instance, on St. Patrick's Day, stages included tiny exploding leprechauns which had to be avoided). My go-to characters were Swamp Thing, Robin and Cyborg.

A Way Out: A co-op prison game. Not interactive enough for my personal tastes, as it felt more like watching a video game than playing a video game. Too many lengthy cut-scenes, and the gameplay often consists of just walking in one direction and pressing 'A.' The story is fairly engaging and emotional, and the game itself becomes more enjoyable in the later stages when it briefly turns into a third-person shooter, but overall I didn't care much for this one.


Alan Wake: One of the coolest games I've ever played. Imagine an episode of Twilight Zone set in the world of Twin Peaks with Stephen King as the protagonist. Even if it doesn't stick the landing (much like Stephen King himself), this is one of the most captivating storylines I've encountered in a video game. The mystery unfolds like a page-turner, or like a serial you can't stop binging. The innovative gameplay is excellent as well. Darkness is something to be feared, as dangerous shadowy figures constantly materialize. To defeat them, you have to first shine your flashlight on them for a few seconds until they lose their "shield," at which time you can shoot and harm them. Ammo and batteries are in short supply, however, adding to the stress and vulnerability. The game is never scary, per se, but it certainly quickens the pulse. Characters possess plenty of personality, and the voice acting is on point even if the motion-capture leaves a bit to be desired. Also features an excellent soundtrack of original and licensed songs that are utilized to perfection. I loved every second of this experience.

World War Z: Simple, straightforward, but very fun to play with friends. Teams of four traverse from point A to point B, killing fast-moving zombies along the way. Each level culminates with a stand-your-ground moment against massive waves of zombies, as players strategically place defensive traps like automated turrets and electrified fences. Teamwork is essential to survival. I wish the game included more locations/episodes, as it doesn't take long to complete them all, but the gameplay is enjoyable enough that I didn't mind repeating them as I worked my way up in difficulties. Few things are more invigorating than mowing down with a chainsaw an oncoming swarm of zombies.

Zombie Army 4: Dead War: Craving more co-op zombie carnage, my friends and I gave this third-person shooter a try. Hitler and zombies with a grindhouse-inspired presentation. Story-wise, this reminded me of the 2018 film Overlord, although the gameplay is supposedly a spiritual successor to the popular Left 4 Dead series, none of which I've played. The campaign mode is lacking, and I ended up completing it on my own since none of my friends were into it. Horde mode is where all the fun lies. I spent an embarrassing number of hours killing waves of undead. A nice mix of zombie types, from traditional shufflers to running zombies strapped with dynamite to hard-to-kill behemoths equipped with machine guns and flamethrowers. I don't think I'm very good at shooters, in general, but I was very, very good at this game for some reason. It was always thrilling to be the last man standing, knowing that other players are watching, waiting to see if I single-handedly vanquish the latest wave of enemies so that they can regenerate, or else it's game over for all of us.


The Outer Worlds: I love RPGs, but so many of them nowadays take hundreds of hours to complete, especially for someone like myself who enjoys exploring and doing side-quests. Those never-ending games like Skyrim used to appeal to me, but that level of time commitment is now a turn-off. Enter The Outer Worlds, which can be completed in under 40 hours even if you attempt all side-quests. I enjoyed this game a lot. At times it can be a bit too dialogue-heavy, but at least the dialogue is well-written and regularly witty. I appreciated the moral freedom. Choices throughout the game have storyline-altering consequences. Combat is enjoyable, although the majority of altercations in the second half don't provide much of a challenge once you've leveled up your character and equipped him/her with some powerful weapons. That problem is compounded with companions by your side. Great game overall, with lots of fun interactions. Hopefully the sequel injects a bit more action into the story.

Dante's Inferno: This is how you make an uncultured Neanderthal like myself want to read a 14th-century epic poem. Button-mashing, arcade-style action. Disturbing imagery and a delightfully depraved atmosphere. The most nudity I've encountered in a video game. The graphics look dated (this game is from 2010, after all), but the hand-drawn animation in the flashbacks is impressive. My biggest complaint is with the poorly-implemented puzzles that bring the fast-paced action to a standstill. Game only takes 6-8 hours to complete, which would feel like a rip-off to me if I had bought the disc back in the day, but this length is perfect for a quick playthrough on Game Pass.

Streets of Rage 4: Side-scrolling beat-'em-ups were my go-to genre as a kid, and Streets of Rage 2 is the peak of the genre and one of my all-time favorite games. This is a perfect modern update. Retro and nostalgic without feeling archaic. Tons of fun Easter eggs and callbacks to the originals. The score is particularly excellent and adds so much to the late 80's/early 90's atmosphere. Makes me want to live in a martial-arts dojo so I can put on a headband and trawl the streets for punks to punch in the face.

Gears of War 1-4: When playing shooters, I tend to adopt a run-and-gun approach, so the first installment of this popular franchise required a major adjustment for me. You have to adopt a tactical approach unless you want to die every two minutes. Once I got used to taking cover and seizing the opportune moment to open fire, I enjoyed the gameplay quite a bit; although the deeper I ventured into the sequels, the more my patience faded, and I started to find the gameplay increasingly static. Each installment dramatically ups the ante in regards to graphics and voice-work, as the sequels become increasingly cinematic. The A.I. of teammates and enemies also noticeably improves in the later entries. In the first game, my A.I. teammates would regularly run into harm's way and leave me stranded. By the third game, I felt like my A.I. teammates were doing all the heavy lifting. The camaraderie and back-and-forth banter between the characters was often amusing. For some reason, the odd-numbered entries feature very challenging final bosses (I had to exploit a glitch to defeat the final boss in the first game), while the even-numbered entries present final bosses that are total push-overs. I never tried the multiplayer on any of the games. I'll play Gears 5 when I sign back up for Game Pass. Even though I eventually grew bored with the gameplay, I remain curious to see how the story plays out.

Included also were lots of hours playing Madden, FIFA and MLB: The Show. I've never been a baseball fan, but I credit the latter for teaching me a lot of rules and wrinkles of the sport, to the point that I found myself surprisingly invested during the MLB postseason. I still find baseball too slowly paced for my liking, but it's no longer as boring to me as it used to be.
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That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
lol. I had a Facebook notification this morning from 11 years ago that made me giggle:
"ok. so i started playing bioshock this weekend. now, every time i hear someone laughing, i try to electrocute them. =\"



there's a frog in my snake oil
Think I'll probably let my VR thread settle. (Got a revamped one running here if anyone wants to keep tabs on VR stuff.)

Will still dump daft VR things here though. Like this vid of me playing with physics goo for 5 minutes

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here



So I started playing Psychonauts 2 about 2-ish months ago? Was having a blast until I got to the cooking segment. Made it to the part where you're supposed to throw the ingredients in a tube. Let's just say it wasn't going my way. After a bajillion tries I rage quit. That was 2 (ish) months ago. I'm going in for another try today. Fingers crossed.



So I started playing Psychonauts 2 about 2-ish months ago? Was having a blast until I got to the cooking segment. Made it to the part where you're supposed to throw the ingredients in a tube. Let's just say it wasn't going my way. After a bajillion tries I rage quit. That was 2 (ish) months ago. I'm going in for another try today. Fingers crossed.
Haha, are you trying to beat the top time? I'm trying to remember the details, but I settled for the second-rate time just to get past the segment. Keep going, the game keeps throwing some good humor and environments at you (wait until you start navigating around Nick from the mailroom's brain)



Haha, are you trying to beat the top time? I'm trying to remember the details, but I settled for the second-rate time just to get past the segment. Keep going, the game keeps throwing some good humor and environments at you (wait until you start navigating around Nick from the mailroom's brain)
I'm at the boss fight where I have to grab the right ingredient and throw it in a tube. I keep dying and having to start all over again. Yesterday was another dud. I'm THIS CLOSE to uninstalling the game. THIS CLOSE. It's super close.



there's a frog in my snake oil
The weird world of game dev decisions…

Battlefront dev on chosing the heroes/villains for the first DLC:

Yes, we re-used the heads for Greedo and Nien Nunb, but built the rest of their bodies. The reason for that was because we had already used their heads for trooper customizations. Looking back, we probably should have made the trooper heads slightly different than Nien and Greedo, but they were made many months before the launch of SWBF1 and long before we started thinking about DLCs for the game.

The real restriction we were working under was localizing VO. Some countries require you to localize any English language in the game to the local language (German, for example). The localization process is a long one and usually gets done after you've recorded the English actor. We would not have been able to deliver the DLC in time had we done Heroes and Villains that speak English, where as Alien speech does not need to be translated and localized. So the restriction was to pick Alien Heroes and Villains for the first DLC, and since we were quite excited to explore more of Sullust that we had developed for SWBF1 (as well as build Jabba's Palace) we picked those two characters.



there's a frog in my snake oil
It’s so stupidly hard to communicate what’s cool about VR. But all I can say is that hanging out in places like this is 'transporting'…



And descending in rickety old lifts into enormous caverns just doesn’t get old for some reason



I'd pretty much stopped playing video games altogether over the last few years, but a buddy of mine, after buying an Xbox Series X, gave me his old Xbox One. I signed up for Game Pass shortly afterwards. Here's a rundown of what I've played this year:


Banjo-Kazooie: Over 100 accessible games, many new releases included, and the first thing I play is a N64 game from over 20 years ago. I rented this from the video store a couple times as a kid and recall enjoying it quite a bit, but a weekend was never long enough to get very far into the game. I expected this to be a quick, easy playthrough, considering that the game is geared toward younger audiences with its cartoonish aesthetic and talking animals, but I found it deceptively challenging and time-consuming. I even had to resort to the occasional online walkthrough in order to find some cleverly hidden puzzle pieces. Overall, though, this was a fun nostalgia trip that has aged fairly well with its mix of puzzles, platforming and elementary combat. The lengthy final boss fight toes the line between frustrating tedium and challenging reward.
i still have my n64 and banjo-kazooie :P loved that game and last week i bought mario kart 64 in a good mint condition in the original n64 box from my work friend



It’s so stupidly hard to communicate what’s cool about VR. But all I can say is that hanging out in places like this is 'transporting'…



And descending in rickety old lifts into enormous caverns just doesn’t get old for some reason
what game is that it has good graphics i havent played my PSVR for ages



there's a frog in my snake oil
what game is that it has good graphics i havent played my PSVR for ages
It's Torn. And it's on PSVR apparently.

This review seems decent. (And his criticisms are fair)



Not sure how it compares to the PCVR version. Would imagine there's a bit of loss of gloss. They seem to have the excessive number of physics items in there though.