AevumMessor's recent activity
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor Link ParentDon't worry, I absolutely appreciate the extra info! My only experience with NMS was from when it was initially added Gamepass and from videos online and you're correct that the stock crafting,...Don't worry, I absolutely appreciate the extra info! My only experience with NMS was from when it was initially added Gamepass and from videos online and you're correct that the stock crafting, guided/recipe based progression, and fetch quests didn't connect with me. The general exploration was super appealing though, so now learning that those things might be removable is actually quite exciting! It's been a while since I've had gamepass but it might be worth a resub to give NMS another shot.
The same goes for Subnautica actually, so I'm really happy for all of the extra info. I don't mind stamina management at all (of which I agree oxygen is probably in the same camp, since it's a progression gate and recovered incidentally rather than actively) but thirst/hunger meters sap my enjoyment regardless of game - I think there's a really good chance I could enjoy what Subnautica offers knowing that I could tweak those.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor Link ParentI think all of them lean a bit more open world, much like how Morrowind did. There is definitely a "main quest" that you can choose to prioritize but you can absolutely just go off and discover...I think all of them lean a bit more open world, much like how Morrowind did. There is definitely a "main quest" that you can choose to prioritize but you can absolutely just go off and discover new areas and side quests on your own, and stumble into areas for which you are not at all prepared. Kingdoms of Amalur is the most "modern" and linear in its design (if I remember correctly, it's been quite some time) but there's still some openness. It certainly is the one of the list with the most modern dodge-and-attack combat system.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor Link ParentI'm not sure these games will hit exactly what you're hoping for, but have you looked into: Two Worlds Risen series Gothic series Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning These are all on the older side...I'm not sure these games will hit exactly what you're hoping for, but have you looked into:
These are all on the older side meaning their combat is closer to the cooldown-based MMO style rather than the active hitbox style and their quest and mechanical systems are not as far removed from the Ultima / Everquest influences as more modern games.
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor (edited )Link ParentThere's been a few smaller indie devs making games in this general platformer style, with PS1 and N64 being more represented than others, but here's a rapid fire list of options I haven't yet seen...There's been a few smaller indie devs making games in this general platformer style, with PS1 and N64 being more represented than others, but here's a rapid fire list of options I haven't yet seen suggested to check out!
Some are more Ratchet and Clanky with ranged combat, and some are more Mario 64 with a focus on traversal, but hopefully there's something here:
- PSP spinoffs of series you already like (The ppsspp emulator is wonderful) such as Daxter, Secret Agent Clank, and Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters. Also ones unique to the console, like Tokobot
- Gamecube 3D platformers you might have missed (Dolphin emulator): Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, Wario World, Star Fox Adventures
- Anything by Siactro (Super Kiwi 64, Toree 3D)
- Gurumin: A Monstrous Adventure
- Kao The Kangaroo
- The Smurfs - Mission Vileaf
- Sackboy: A Big Adventure
- New Super Lucky's Tale
- Trifox
- Cavern of Dreams
- Pseudoregalia
- SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom (Remaster on steam, or PS2/Gamecube emulation).
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor Link ParentI loved Horizon: Zero Dawn! Absolutely devoured the game and went back for seconds in Ultra Hard mode. I've yet to play the sequel but am eagerly awaiting the PC release next year, it'll be a day...I loved Horizon: Zero Dawn! Absolutely devoured the game and went back for seconds in Ultra Hard mode. I've yet to play the sequel but am eagerly awaiting the PC release next year, it'll be a day one pickup for me! I do think HZD felt almost too... alive (?) for the feeling I'm looking for games to create. It feels like the world cares too much about Aloy and events too wholly dependent on her to really give the sense of being small in a massive world. It's almost as if in the games I'm looking for the world itself is a character that barely acknowledges you exist until you "earn" your specialness; slaying the colossi, linking the fires, and so forth. I struggle so very much trying to describe the distinction!
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor Link ParentI appreciate the suggestions, thank you for taking the time to share your favorites! I've heard of most of those and some have certainly piqued my interest in the past with Wind Waker actually...I appreciate the suggestions, thank you for taking the time to share your favorites! I've heard of most of those and some have certainly piqued my interest in the past with Wind Waker actually being a personal favorite as well. Hell, I love so many of the Zelda games - Majora's Mask in fact is one of the few games filled to the brim with characters to interact with that still manage to give me the feelings I described seeking!
Subnautica and No Man's Sky (along with Minecraft, I suppose) have called out to me quite often but I've been hesitant to start them because they almost seem potentially too "fiddly" (to borrow a board game community term) and/or wiki-dependent for me. The environments are so tempting to explore and the potential feeling of existing alone in a hostile world is juicy but I do worry there are so many mechanical knobs to turn, checklists to check, and meters to manage that I'd be constantly pulled out from being lost in the vibes. Do you feel like they lean more towards the gut feeling of playing games like management sims / city builders where it's about small plans and optimization loops, or more towards the wibbly wobbly nebulous feeling of being small in a big world like Shadow of the Colossus - and is there one of those you'd suggest over the others?
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor Link ParentIt's also by Atlus and might be close enough to a Visual Novel that it doesn't interest you, but I believe Catherine ("Classic" on Steam, Full Body as a complete edition on consoles) has a good...It's also by Atlus and might be close enough to a Visual Novel that it doesn't interest you, but I believe Catherine ("Classic" on Steam, Full Body as a complete edition on consoles) has a good amount of this to establish some character relationships over the course of the game
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Comment on Game recommendations, specifically in ~games
AevumMessor LinkI've got a bit of a hard to quantify request that I'm hopefully some of the Tilde community will have fresh suggestions for! I'm always on the hunt for more games that produce a measured...I've got a bit of a hard to quantify request that I'm hopefully some of the Tilde community will have fresh suggestions for! I'm always on the hunt for more games that produce a measured melancholic, somber, or isolated vibe while still being fairly interactive and have some aspect of action gameplay - think games like Ueda's Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, the Dark Souls series, and Metroid. Due to their source influences, Soulslikes and more Metroid-leaning Metroidvanias (Ghost Song, Ender Lillies) tend to target this feeling as well.
I've found that in my head, the best way that I can describe these games is that despite many of them having very impressive and beloved soundtracks, they play just as well and maybe even have a more effective atmosphere with the music volume set to zero and with just the character's footsteps and ambient world noise to accompany you (take Metroid Prime, for a potentially blasphemous example).
I've found some survival horror games land this feeling at times, and most recently No Sun To Worship tickled this same fancy with a stealth game, but I'd love to hear any of your suggestions!
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Comment on Steam 2023 Summer Sale: Hidden gems in ~games
AevumMessor (edited )Link ParentMy buddy and I have been working our way through many coop games together; our tastes might not match what you're looking for, but maybe there's something that will catch your eye. I'm focusing on...My buddy and I have been working our way through many coop games together; our tastes might not match what you're looking for, but maybe there's something that will catch your eye. I'm focusing on the more moment to moment action-y games we've played rather than narrative driven games since these sound bit closer to what you've enjoyed in the past!
Helldivers (75% off, $4.99) is a top-down tongue-in-cheek scifi military shooter that plays like a cross between Starship Troopers and the studio's prior game, friendly fire filled coop-madness spell slinger Magicka (also on sale, 75% off $2.49 for the base game).
Children of Morta (75% off, $5.49) is a recent playthrough for us that we enjoyed, a top-down action RPG roguelite where you play as various members of a family trying to stop a corrupting evil from consuming their world. There are some networking issues but we were able to play through the whole thing and had a great time with it.
Risk of Rain 2 (50% off, $12.49) is a third person area-ish shooter action roguelike where you and a friend are trying to survive and escape an alien planet by haphazardly stapling random ability granting doodads all over yourself. I'm not normally a fan of Rogue-esk games (despite this and prior recommendations being roguelike/lite) but the moment to moment gameplay of RoR was a blast and the "ramp up" phase at the start of a run where you feel underpowered is extremely short.
Aliens: Fireteam Elite (60% off, $11.99) is a third person campaign mission-based shooter with classes and abilities. It's not the best game in this "genre", but we've been playing it recently thanks to it being featured in a recent Humble Monthly and if you take it for what it is, it's surprisingly enjoyable. The feedback from weapons is solid, the shooting and kill feedback is satisfying, and the game is mostly straightforward - do you want to make shooty noises and big booms with a friend as a background to just hanging out and chatting about life? Fireteam Elite does that and gets out of your way.
Monster Hunter Rise (60% off, $15.99) is definitely not a hidden gem, but it IS on sale and is a gem, so I'm bringing it up! If you're unfamiliar with the series it focuses on you, a monster hunter, going out into various environments to take down large and imposing creatures that are threatening your village. You have an incredibly varied set of weapon styles to choose from each with very many variants that, along with your armor, are crafted from parts gained by slaying and carving (or capturing) monsters. It's a mission-based game (load into an environment, do the hunt, return to base to gear up for the next one) but it plays super well with a friend and Rise is the most accessible entry point for new players by far. We put easily a hundred hours in when it first released on the Switch and enjoyed every moment of it.
Last but not least, and merely a month before the sequel arrives, Remnant: From the Ashes (65% off, $13.99) is a vaguely soulslike but with lots of guns mission-based campaign shooter where the specific encounter path you'll follow is generated on start based on a random seed (dictating the worlds you'll visit and the bosses you'll encounter). The moment to moment gameplay is quite satisfying, the worlds are fun to explore, the story is passable, and the builds are easy to understand but fun to execute. And there are enough modes that allow for random generation that if you enjoy the gameplay, plenty more can be found.
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Comment on What password management solution do you use and why? in ~tech
AevumMessor Link ParentAnother vote in the 1Password camp here; I normally tend towards self-hosting and open source software in general, but as the designated family tech support 1Password is by far the most user...Another vote in the 1Password camp here; I normally tend towards self-hosting and open source software in general, but as the designated family tech support 1Password is by far the most user friendly option that hooks nicely into iOS and lets me easily act as a master-password reset initiator for if my family forgets it without needing to have direct knowledge of anything in their respective vaults. It also plays well with my other devices across Android, Windows, and MacOS. I don't personally have a problem with paying a subscription for good software that is well maintained and kept up to date, especially when it comes to wanting that company to be able to pay their engineers to stay on top of security.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
AevumMessor LinkI just recently finished Steelrising, and I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I initially thought I would. I fell into the "Dark Souls influences every game you play after it trap"...I just recently finished Steelrising, and I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it a lot more than I initially thought I would. I fell into the "Dark Souls influences every game you play after it trap" a few years back and while I still enjoy a great variety of genres, I've found myself mostly drawn to Metroidvania, Soulslike, and Zelda-like games that more or less take a hands-off approach to letting the player loose in their worlds, but not so hands off that it's a sandbox-y or primarily intrinsic motivation driven game. To that end, I've been trying anything in those genres that catches my eye and most recently it was Spiders' AA entry into the soulslike genre.
Steelrising managed to hit a really nice middleground where it had the engaging, slow, "danger around every corner" exploration in a hand-crafted word that I crave, but it was also more direct with its story. It had lots of cutscenes, plenty of conversations with NPCs, side quests with branching choices, and the story was directly driven by your character's involvement rather than only after a cataclysmic event like in the Souls series. It tries a few new things with resource management and stamina usage and makes it all fit into a world where your character is an automaton, nicely tying together the bonfire and stamina mechanics. There are areas where the game could certainly have used more polish if they had infinite time or money to spend, but honestly, there wasn't really anything that I could point to and say it took me out of the game. It's a safe implementation of a few new ideas in an established mold done by a team that wanted to recreate certain aspects while still trying out some new ideas, and I felt that it really worked. I'm excited to try more from Spiders' recent catalog (Greedfall is next up!) and seeing what ideas they have that they try to implement within the limits of their scope; the limitations that come with indie or AA development seem to always have outcomes I'm happy to explore, even if they're not perfect!
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Comment on Scifi / action (audiobooks)... who would I like next? in ~books
AevumMessor LinkOne of the few suggestions I haven't yet seen in comments is The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross, beginning with The Atrocity Archives. I'd classify them as SciFi, but certain not in the...One of the few suggestions I haven't yet seen in comments is The Laundry Files series by Charles Stross, beginning with The Atrocity Archives. I'd classify them as SciFi, but certain not in the harder science fiction category like some of other authors you've enjoyed. It absolutely falls into the "plucky nerd protagonist" subcategory, but not so much the Star Trek bucket, so you might still find it entertaining!
The series follows a British clandestine service that deals with the supernatural, but for mathematical and lovecraftian values of supernatural. "Magic" exists as a byproduct of performing calculations, meaning that computers and programming have become the de facto method for interacting with the various supernatural phenomena and our hero is a witty anti-establishment computer scientist turned field agent. There's lots of dry humor that pokes fun at governmental and corporate bureaucratic inefficiencies and just enough technical writing and action to feel grounded despite the more fantastical elements. The first book isn't the strongest in my opinion, but the author quickly finds his stride and I found the rest of the series quite fun - plus, the first few books are very intentional riffs on specific styles of spy novels from the last 50 years and seeing those connections paired with magic-computer-science-versus-extradimensional-horrors landed just right for me.
I actually do really like what Observer was going for and the experience they crafted, but the narrative was definitely too direct to give the same melancholy and isolated vibes, and the linearity of it detracts from that feeling that you're just sitting in an weighty, uncaring space - some external force that cares about you the character in this world is always subtly trying to drive you forward. Definitely a darker tone that I appreciate though!