Messages

1

General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: November 07, 2025, 11:01:42 pm »

Gave Sonic Frontiers a very short chance again since I saw it was on a deep sale on PC, and the last time I tried it was on PS4 I think and I didn't like it much back then...still don't like it now lol Cutscenes are really low rez, like they feel 720p or something with their quality.  The game is then locked at 60fps and I thought I might've been to harsh on the item pop-in for the game, I now know I wasn't, it's horrid, just watching rails and platforms pop in right in front of you.  I know there's a mod that can force better distance detail, but its limited to how far as it'll just end up breaking the game.

I like the idea of an open world Sonic game and this isn't the worst thing ever at its core, but it's just a Breath of the Wild Knockoff, but with far less to do in the world and just a bunch of random platforms and rails strewn haphazardly in the air, it feels like a game that has map modding and people just made their own levels.  I wouldn't be against a sequel overhauling a lot of this with a far better engine, but I'm done giving this game a chance lol

2

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 07, 2025, 01:38:43 am »

36 - Poppy's Playtime: Chapter 4 (PC 2024) - BEAT - This was an interesting shift after the third chapter.  The game stayed pretty PG-13 up to this point, relatively speaking, a few things were kinda dark, but they usually avoided showing real dead bodies, but not this time, 4th chapter had dead human bodies all over.  It's nothing gory or extra violent, but it was not something I expected after the first three chapters.  Definitely the complete realization of its gameplay experience, though they didn't add anything new in particular gameplay wise, which was odd.  Decent enough puzzles, a lot more character stuff as you get to hang around with Doey a lot, talk to Poppy more, they didn't kinda flop with the Safe Haven concept, as you don't get to interact with anyone.

I think I like this chapter less than the last one, because the facade of a friendly place is all gone now, which makes sense for the story, but that means I'm just running around kinda caverns, and tunnels, and this big jail place and it's way less interesting than either the Game Station or Playcare. Once again good animations and character voice acting.  Think it's coming up on the end of the series, I can't imagine they go much further than one more chapter at this point as it all seems to be leading up to this I think.

3

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 06, 2025, 05:10:36 am »

35 - Voices of the Void (PC) - ENDLESS - Thought it was last year when I last played, but it was actually earlier this year, but couldn't help it, new update dropped (Game has been a free WIP for quite a long time now) and it added some really cool features, overhauling mechanics, adding more detail, it's not a super different game, but it's apparently now the functionally "final" design of the base, no more big additions or changes, just tweaks from here on out.  There's a lot of control differences with this update that has been hard to get use to when you get so use to the muscle memory from previous versions.  Love this game, it's weird, creepy, and super engaging and I like that there's been more depth added and there's still a ways for the game to go, but I love it.

Don't know if I'll get to the end of the available story moments this time, it's actually an unstable update for the moment, so it has a number of bugs right now, but I was just way too interested to see the new stuff to wait.  Either way, I'm dumping hours into the game.

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Off Topic / Re: What TV/Netflix show are you currently watching? (Megathread)

« on: November 05, 2025, 02:11:04 am »

Nice to have Hazbin Hotel back for Season 2, it's a weekly thing, so its just beginning with two episodes, but decent start so far as they setup the clear threats of the season, Episode 2 killing it with two really good songs (Gravity in particular my standout, but I'm biased with it being a rock song).  I feel like in the nearly 2 years since season 1 ended, the show kinda went down that path that sorta happens to really popular things, where all the popularity and fandoms starts to clash, the "Is this show actually good?" or "What's wrong with Insert Show Here" videos pop up, and there's a lot of negativity, but it always felt abit forced to me. 

Not that people don't have valid reasons to dislike it or maybe have some issues with the creator, but for me, I'm on board, and looking forward to the rest of this season and whenever Helluva Boss Season 3 happens.  I just love that alongside Glitch now, there's also this really good adult animation happening that's super enjoyable for all sorts of different reasons.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 05, 2025, 01:38:57 am »

Pretty much where im at with it.  The strength of Vampire Survivors is the pure simplicity (and amount of content). The base building in BxP isn't bad by any means, but it's a hurdle when all you really want to do is play the levels.  Theres too much to think about, comparatively.

I really wanted to like the base building more, I think it's an awesome way to make upgrades come across as "physical" instead of just a menu option, but what I found was that I'd just put buildings anywhere they'd fit and then when needing to build, I'd create a tiny cul-de-sac of upgrading/construction buildings that they couldn't get out of, and once those were built, they'd get thrown somewhere else to make room for a new batch of buildings that needed a little place to bounce around in, so the village never really took off in the way I think they thought it would.  Cool idea, but in the end not as engaging as it could have been, but an interesting attempt to try and set itself apart.  Sorta feel like they could've added more like roads that could speed up bouncing, or more general decor for the sake of driving people to want to spiffy up the village instead of just throwing buildings wherever.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 04, 2025, 10:51:37 pm »

I hit credits on Ball x Pit today.  It was a really fun Vampire Survivors timed survival style game, that played like Breakout or Arkanoid.  It's not quite as streamlined as VS, though, with some base building stuff that drags down the early game a little.  It gets kinda grindy towards the end and kinda boring if youve been keeping up with upgrades, as you can be pretty overpowered if you are staying on top of the upgrade system.  The VS comparisons really don't help my feelings about it, since it cost 3 times as much, but wore out its welcome way faster.  Worth picking up on sale, at least.

It is interesting how a game that I think is mechanically and visually better than Vampire Survivors, isn't as good as VS, because the draw to these sorta mindless shoot-em up style games is the ease of jumping in and kinda losing yourself to the power creep, but you spend less time in rounds, then have to do base upgrades (Which I generally liked) and then you have to be more engaged with the gameplay because you want to get those ricochets or get behind tougher enemies and such.  I liked it quite abit, but hit 15 hours with the ending and that was sorta good for me, having unlocked all the characters too, while I have currently 105 hours into Vampire Survivors and I'm gonna put more as I'm still not finished with the Castlevania DLC, some other free update stuff, they just added more to the Castlevania DLC, and just did a Balatro free update lol

7

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: November 01, 2025, 08:35:34 pm »

33 - Poppy's Playtime: Chapter 2 (PC 2022) - BEAT - After this and the first chapter, I was gonna go through all 4 chapters and count them as one game, but these really aren't like "Chapters", they release around a year apart and get progressively longer and improve on things quite abit from gameplay to quality.  The first was more of a demo than anything.  Chapter 2 is kinda just the first chapter, but more of a proper game length at like 2 to 3 hours, it feels like a realization of the first chapter's test experience.  I actually was going into this series kinda middling on it, sorta due to its influence I've seen on a lot of mascot horror that are just copying like the first chapter or two, and are usually awful, and while Chapter 2 is fine, it's nothing special, it really stands out in like animation quality and voice acting for the monsters.  Mommy in this is incredibly well animated and the voice acting is pretty great, it almost feels out of place in kind of a very basic minigame/walking sim sorta game lol  It's still quite short, I think I beat it in like 2 hours, but it's fine.


34 - Poppy's Playtime: Chapter 3 (PC 2024) - BEAT - This was a huge leap to me, pushing the atmosphere, the quality, there's genuinely creepy moments and they probably could've gone harder (Especially with where they take things in Chapter 4 so far), but it was actually a Chapter I really enjoy (Aside from a bug halfway through that almost caused me to reset the chapter, but I found a workaround).  This is way darker than anything going on in the first two chapters and you can see them doing some pretty clear nods to other horror ideas, from a section that is like a very light version of P.T., and introducing a threat for an area that is basically Weeping Angels, yet they made it work.  I really enjoyed this one.  Currently part way through Chapter 4 that I think is the longest one, but should finish it this weekend.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Limited Run Games Showcase 2025 discussion/predictions/wishes

« on: October 30, 2025, 04:27:49 pm »

My initial reaction to the Little Samson reveal was excitement, however I then remembered I have this game on my NES flashcart. It's a fun game, no question, but I don't know if I like it enough to buy it separately for $40+. No way in hell I'd be one of those crazy people paying $1000+ for an original cartridge, but that's collectorism for you.

I'm just gonna buy it digital so I can at least play it lol That it's super rare and I can technically get a physical version is kinda neat, but I'm not paying whatever the cost would be, I'm only doing that for collections to justify the cost.

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Modern Video Games / Re: Limited Run Games Showcase 2025 discussion/predictions/wishes

« on: October 29, 2025, 09:33:50 pm »

Cool to get Little Samson finally, I played it once years ago at someones house for a real short bit and it seemed fun, but was crazy how stupidly expensive of a game it was lol

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General / Re: Halo is going multiplat...end of an era

« on: October 25, 2025, 02:36:05 pm »

I'm just bummed that this feels incomplete without the original multiplayer.  They did the same thing with the Anniversary version I believe when I think for many people, including me, the original game was made what it was because of the multiplayer.  I loved the original campaign and I didn't get around to playing the Anniversary edition, so this is the perfect time to replay it, but I'm fully expecting this to be like a full price or near full price game for what is generally a not very long campaign that tons of people have already played multiple times in the past.  Cool for people that never played the game, hence it being on Playstation now...

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: October 25, 2025, 05:03:13 am »

32 - Bendy and the Ink Machine (PC 2017) - BEAT - This was always one of those games I meant to check out, I think I played the 1st chapter at some point, I feel like it was free before release, sorta like Poppy Playtime has the first chapter free and then you buy the rest.  It's basically got some very, very, light Bioshock vibes, mixed with a little mascot horror.  Honestly kinda wished it picked one or the other, because it's not a good action game like Bioshock and its not a good mascot horror game because there's not much in the way of puzzles or non-action stuff that's very engaging.  The art is pretty great, visually has a decent aesthetic, performance could've been better, because for some reason Steam said I was running at 120, but the game felt lower than that.  Not unplayable, just something I noticed.

Like I said, gameplay isn't great, the action is stiff and kinda bad, some areas drag, it's sorta just fetch quest type things, it really could've used some puzzle solving.  Some decent voice acting for some characters, though could've used more characters throughout and the game is quite short, I beat it in under 4 hours.  You do get a bonus thing that adds a little replay value if you go through the game again, but I didn't like it enough to want to do that.

Not a bad game, but definitely not something I would've spent 20 bucks on, which I'm glad I got it for I think under 10 bucks (And its going up for free on Epic soon, because of course it is even though I bought this like 2 weeks ago lol). 

I am going to check out the sequel, Dark Revival eventually, need it to go on sale (Kinda hoping a few horror games go on sale next week), but will get there eventually and the third main game is on the horizon.

12

General / Re: What are you playing?

« on: October 25, 2025, 04:55:08 am »

Played the Cronos demo and it seems interesting.  I had heard it was kinda aggressive with its survival horror aspect, very tight with resources, which I don't love. I know that's a notable part of survival horror, but often it's not quite this bad, even Resident Evil could give you a decent ammo if you were careful with your shots.  There is like a charge shot attack, but even if you get a couple of those in, it can still take more, and I was not getting much more ammo.  The game feels like a mixture of Dead Space and Resident Evil, but I can see it being solid.  Not sure when or if I'll get it, at least not anytime soon, I don't think I'm getting much else other than maybe Arc Raiders soon, not sure.

Five Nights at Freddy's 4 - Struggling through this one now. I  thought I was gonna cruise through this one as mechanically it's vibes are very similar to FNAF 2, you just get a nice set execution of checking things and you'll probably be okay, but its hard even on Night 3 and not from timing.  There's way less to the audio cues I feel compared to like FNAF2 where you had things very clearly setup, you'll sometimes hear walking on either side, but it's not a guarantee of something being there, and then if Foxy gets into your closet, you now have a third door way to worry about and it's really annoying getting him to settle down as you can spend like 5+ seconds just getting him to back off, which can be enough to screw you on the doors, so far getting nailed by Chica/Cupcake is my normal go to.  I am frustrated, it's hard to tell what the path is for this.

I thought it was just rotating door to bed to door, and then put closet in the middle if Foxy shows up, but once Foxy shows up, he takes up so much time and leads to someone getting in, usually Chica for whatever reasons.  I did get one night that didn't get Foxy at all, but then I botched it by hitting flash light instead of closed door, great idea putting two important, conflicting, mechanics right next to each other with no keybind options.  I also swear there's points where the breathing audio doesn't play or is so quiet it's impossible to hear, because I've had moments where I sat for a good two seconds maybe, heard nothing, hit flashlight, dead.  So annoying.

I then tried to do the listening for just steps, but it's very clear that the steps don't always mean something is and I feel like that risks you getting something coming up both sides, specifically Foxy, and if they get in too soon, you just deal with him for too long.  Kinda curious if the idea is to try and calm it down a lot when you can, rather than calming him a little with every rotation.  I kinda just pop in for like 3 to 5 games, then get pissed and quit lol

13

General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: October 22, 2025, 10:22:00 pm »

31 - Five Night's At Freddy's 3 (PC 2015) - DROPPED - Boy, not doing well with the FNAF games lol FNAF 2 I've mostly dropped, might attempt again, because the Withered's have the dumbest timing to them.  FNAF 3 I'm dropping as I just don't like the mechanics at all and the visuals are garbage.  I can understand the idea that the cameras and systems are janky and old, but what isn't fun is using those cameras in a gameplay scenario.  I'm constantly losing Springtrap because in like half the main cameras, I'm just looking at dark, jittery, static.  A couple rooms I can see him, but there's so often I just have no clue. I only got up to Night 3, but I just don't like the mechanics of sorta having to lead Springtrap around with audio while dealing with hallucinations and the audio from the cameras is distracting and grating...

I do like the big emphasis of the cameras in this, it's a better concept than FNAF 2 where cameras don't really matter, returning abit more to what FNAF 1 was doing, but I don't like the gameplay.  It's too slow to go side to side compared to what it was before to reach the panels.  It's really funny seeing Springtrap like skedaddle in the background surprisingly quick despite being and haunted corpse in a huge body suit lol  FNAF 2 was just that one mechanic, but here it's sorta the whole game experience doesn't feel enjoyable to play.  This one I won't attempt again, already refunded, I still might try FNAF 2 again as I think I can beat and I'm doing it more out of stubbornness at this point. 

One I get my refund, I'll be attempting FNAF 4, see if I can find another I like well enough.

29 - Five Night's At Freddy's 2 (PC 2014) - BEAT - Out of sheer stubbornness, I beat Night 5 and the game.  I know there are more nights, two I think to get the true ending and what not, but I'm done.  I think I got abit lucky on this one, Toy Chica can be the odd one to get me in this game when it's not the Withered's, but I think the randomness worked out and I beat it.  My view hasn't changed, I think while mechanically it's fine, the idea is fine, the turn away from actually using the cameras undercuts what the first game did, and all you do to beat the game is basically just a whole "meta" thing of wind music box, flash hallway for Foxy, tap the vent lights to check for Toy Chica and Toy Bonnie, flip mask when needed.  It's not fun to me at all and the Withered timing ruined stuff so much for me.

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General / Re: 52 Games Challenge 2025!!!

« on: October 20, 2025, 03:03:17 am »

30 - Ball x Pit (PC 2025) - BEAT - Think I might've hit max action rogue-like games at this point after playing a ton of Megabonk and now Ball x Pit while still playing Vampire Survivors every so often lol

I don't know why I like these mindless games, it's weirdly addictive even if the gameplay is fairly basic.  Ball x Pit is basically that idea of auto-firing (Technically you can not have auto-fire on, you start with it off, but there's no real point to not have it on I think), you get items to boost you, you evolve weapons together for better weapons, it's just done a little differently with an upwards scrolling level and crossing it with the old brick breaker game, Breakout.  That aspect does change things up abit as you are trying to often get the balls fired in certain directions to maximize ricochets.

Another slightly unique thing is there's a town builder aspect, and this is how you upgrade your stats and unlock characters, instead of just spending money on a selection screen.  I feel like it's trying to be deeper with it, but I mostly just found myself throwing things wherever and then setting up a spot that I use for "construction" as you build by bouncing guys off the buildings brick breaker style.  It's just something a little extra to do and if you want to, you can spend a lot of time maximizing that whole thing.

Overall, fun enough game, good art, it's that perfect game of "Just one more run" or thinking you got like 15 minutes and you can just get a quick run run in with not much need to stick around for longer.

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Off Topic / Re: What Was The Last Movie/Anime You Watched?

« on: October 19, 2025, 06:08:58 am »

Ford vs Ferrari - Solid racing movie, Christian Bale and Matt Damon nail the characters.  Apparently Tom Cruise was gonna be in the movie, I assume as Shelby, but I definitely don't think he would have fit the part nearly as well.