Currently going through Warhammer 40K: Inquisitor - Martyr. The game itself is pretty basic, there is honestly not that much variation for skills or builds, the maps are pretty repeatable outside of main storyline and performance is terrible. Still, it scratches that itch that I've had for the past few weeks for a hack and slash game. And smashing into a horde of Tyranids with a big hammer is pretty satisfying.

I'm on Island III of Cuphead. Just beat the Bee Boss and it was certainly brutal. Even then once you get better at understanding what you're supposed to do with each fight it really helps.

I started SKALD: Against the Black Priory yesterday and I'm just about an hour in, but so far it seems to be a pretty fun CRPG.

Just played Dead Cells for the first time.

Ever since trying Hades I’ve decided to give Rogue Like (Lite?) games another chance. Dead Cells definitely scratches a metroidvania itch I’ve been having for awhile. Looking forward to giving it a few runs and seeing how much I like it!

I installed The Ascent to test my new rig with Bazzite, it's kicking my ass but I can't seem to let it go haha

Annalynn is on sale (Switch), so I picked that up. Immensely fun, looking forward to unlocking more palettes.

Into The Breach

It works perfectly with just touch controls. Eden emulator runs the Switch version perfectly on my phone. I hadn't really played the game properly before (would just die quickly and not know how to proceed). Now I'm starting to get the hang of it and can play it for brief gaps in my day now that it is on my phone.

Recently got Detroit: Become Human on discount. Just began to play it this week and my wife cant let me play alone. She is super invested in the story. And so am I.

Ori and the blind forest, second playtrough

Stardew Valley. I needed something kid friendly and I've ran out of rally games so I decided it's time to check out what has been added since I last played it when it released. I know it's had some big updates but I've never paid attention to what the updates have been about, so there's a bit of wonder going into the game. There are already moments where I've gone "I don't remember this being in the game".

Just finished Ico. Heard it was really influential. Overall I really liked it, though it did make me appreciate the improvements in game design that have happened in the last 20 years

Mainly Balatro... I got the (remaster) of the original Fable on Steam, because they're working on a new one. It's interesting but failed to save correctly so i haven't gotten back into it for a few days.

Terraria just got another update, so back to Terarria.

Elden Ring. About 40 hours into it, running a dex / faith lightning build with dual bandit curved swords. Lately I think I’ve been researching builds more than actually playing though.

I‘ve finished Neon White and I honestly think the hell rushes (especially with level shuffle) is where the game shines the most. I could‘ve saved myself some time skipping all of the story and wouldn‘t have missed out on anything IMO lol

Cataclysm DDA.

Nothing picked yet. Long weeks, those past few. ;-;

Maybe I'll play Eternal Arcadia Legend or some other GC game. Finishing franchises is fine and all, but the mood for starting something new is growing along the need to game. =)

Tetris (NES) on Lutris on CachyOS. Good times :)

Continuing with SOMA. Just had a big revelation but now the base's network is down, so I need to go reset the router.

I've also started Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo for when I'm in the mood for something more light-hearted. I tried the demo for it during Steam Next Fest and instantly loved it. It's very obviously inspired by GBA pixel graphics. All the character sprites are insanely expressive. It even has the Pokemon Ruby-Sapphire-Emerald-style trumpets in the music!

And for extra verisimilitude, there are a bunch of graphics options to make it feel like a GBA game. LCD filter, a "strict" pixel mode, a rotatable 3D model to view the game in, and even screen glare if you really want it!

Salt and Sacrifice. Basically a 2D mix of Dark Souls and Monster Hunter, while Salt and Sanctuary was a more straightforward 2D take on Dark Souls alone. This is from the perspective of someone who ablolutely loves MH and who enjoyed Sanctuary even more than Hollow Knight.

It's... fine. There's basically zero use for the game's currency, and I think chasing the Mages around the areas feels a bit more like annoying busy work without MH's in-universe reasons for monsters to flee, especially with how quickly the Mages go down when you finally do catch up with them. Also, having so many different Mage resources dropping randomly doesn't make as much sense when you can't damage different parts of the Mages to influence drops like you can in MH. The Mages themselves, while effort has clearly been put in to make them feel distinct, still end up feeling samey somehow.

All in all, I think the whole thing doesn't quite come together in the end, but I find it hard to criticize indie takes on the Monster Hunter formula when Crapcom has been enshittifying the IP so badly the past few years.

So, give it a try if you like Dark Souls and are craving more of a Monster Hunter-esque experience, but don't expect it to fully scratch the itch. Hopefully this incentivizes more indie studios to try the MH formula - we desperately need more old-style MH-like experiences with Crapcom's trend of empowering the players over the monsters to utterly ridiculous levels.

I caved last week and got Sly Thieves In Time on my steam deck because for whatever reason the disc copy I have freezes up on 2 PS3s: one with and without PS2 backwards compatibility. So far still fun but not quite the level of Sly 3 yet.

I'll also hopefully be playing Sonic Colors for the first time in general on wii if the SD card I ordered arrives by Friday.

I'm playing Akimbot and it kinda sucks. I didn't realize I was buying a kid's game :/

Apart from the daily 20 minutes on Animal Crossing New Leaf I've spent more time tinkering and "fixing" stuff than playing. The best thing I did was setup Syncthing on my emulator handhelds which I should have done a lot sooner but didn't even think to.

Having laugh out loud fun with "Promise Mascot Agency." It's basically all the wacky dialogue of the best Yakuza side missions with business management sim. Like Dondoko Island if you play those games. If you are into management sims, then play on Hard to start. I'm on normal and the gameplay offers almost zero challenge. But the exploration, characters and writing is excellent.

I played and beaten the House of the Dead 2: Remake.

It made me glad I pirated that because, for what they're charging, I got exactly the same experience I did when I bought the first remake. All it was, was just a graphical overhaul. It was still riddled with bugs, I felt a lot of my feedback weren't connecting as much as I thought and it just felt like an overall cheap experience. I would never buy this if it was on sale. I got the first one for $7.49 when it was on sale a few years back, refunded it and got it again later when it was $2.49.

I would say that at that pricepoint, that's exactly what those games should be priced at. They're both an insult to the originals. I'm going to now go and grab arcade copies of these games.

I've had less time than I'd hoped, but I have started to play The Last Express. So far it's a really beautiful, fascinating experience - although somewhat daunting.

Unlike a traditional point-and-click adventure, The Last Express plays out in real time: the train you're on is constantly moving and the other passengers are too, doing things around the train and having conversations. This is not just an old fashioned classic adventure game or solving puzzles, but actually puts a major emphasis on time and timing. You find a dead body in a compartment? You gotta deal with it somehow, and when and how you do so seem to actually matter, creating some either fully or partly branching narratives (haven't finished it yet). There is no quick save, but there is a "rewind" function if you've messed something up irrevocably, although there are also apparently also multiple endings depending on how you do things. For a game this old, the game world actually feels much more alive and vibrant than many newer titles. I think the nature of the limited scope of a confined space of a train, combined with the smart use of basically overlayed 2D rotoscoped film clips, allowed them to create this truly immersive experience where it really feels like you're actively participating in a movie playing out in real time, not interacting with static NPCs in a video game.

Finally, I need to pour heaps of praise over the art direction and graphics. Using rotoscoping over live action footage and fully voice acting everything makes this game hold up visually in such a remarkable way for a 1997 release. It's also good phenomenal voice acting - especially for the time - with some really good voice directing. I was incredibly impressed when eavesdropping on a conversation between two women early on, one french and the other English. They would both switch languages occasionally in a natural way, and both use the appropriate accent when speaking their non-native language.

Absolutely recommend this game to anyone who appreciates games as an art form.

Path of Achra. Only recently found it and I love it. Roguelike, turn based, classic. About 2h for a full successful run. But every run it gets harder, up to 32nd difficulty.

Lots and lots of build combinations as it has races, classes & religions, pick one each and the bonuses are substantial. And 3 out of 9 skill schools. Item bonuses often scale crazy good with very specific style of play etc.

It's the kind of game that gets broken easily and it actively encourages you to do it, cause endgame bosses are no joke too.

baldurs gate 3. One thing im learing is I was to obsessed with stats and build. The mirror thing does not happen till way late in the game apparently and you can respec at any time so only the witches hair matters at all but unlike the mirror it has the 20 cap so its only real use is getting a stat to 20 at level 4 (or before level 8 or 6 for fighter) or for a particular min/max thing. So you can use it for an early power boost or leave it in your inventory but it ultimately does not matter much. Im still not sure if I will use it at level 4 or whenever I get it or just leave it in the inventory to see if there is something I would like to do at very end game. Im leaning to using it but I bet when push comes to shove I leave it in my camp chest. The main thing to remember is it does not really matter. The biggest thing is race choice and background and yeah it makes a difference but not a whole lot. If you want to min max melee damage you can do half orc but elf will give you a bit of extra movement. halflings get a redo of 1's. gith get access to all skills of an ability. ultimately it does not matter tha much.