Durinthal's recent activity
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
-
Comment on For those who didn't know, find what you want to watch and for how much on services! (justwatch.com) in ~movies
Durinthal LinkI'm curious as to how they maintain the listings, since some services will remove things from their catalogue without warning and there's not necessarily an easy way to automate checking for that....I'm curious as to how they maintain the listings, since some services will remove things from their catalogue without warning and there's not necessarily an easy way to automate checking for that.
I generally use a different service for anime, Livechart.me, and those entries are curated by volunteers with an option to submit updates yourself.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentThe latest entry Super Robot Wars Y came out a few months ago but I'm not picking that up until it's on sale (and ideally after I've beaten this one). A built-in randomizer is neat, I can see how...The latest entry Super Robot Wars Y came out a few months ago but I'm not picking that up until it's on sale (and ideally after I've beaten this one).
A built-in randomizer is neat, I can see how it would work for Prodigal though don't know if I'll ever try it myself.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI do want to finish it, I just have so many other things I want to spend my time on that when it comes to gaming this particular one is a lower priority. This event's a good excuse to focus on it...I do want to finish it, I just have so many other things I want to spend my time on that when it comes to gaming this particular one is a lower priority. This event's a good excuse to focus on it from time to time and I can chip away at it.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentProdigal is a game in the same vein as Link's Awakening and the Oracle Zelda pair, a dungeon crawling, puzzle-filled adventure that looks like it was lifted from a Gameboy Color. As for why this...Prodigal is a game in the same vein as Link's Awakening and the Oracle Zelda pair, a dungeon crawling, puzzle-filled adventure that looks like it was lifted from a Gameboy Color.
As for why this has the Mining tag, your main tool is a pickaxe and a lot of the puzzles involve using it to break down rocks and clear paths for block pushing puzzles. So far the three other tools assigned to buttons are a thing that teleports you back to the entrance of the room (leaving the room state as it had been so necessary to jump back for some puzzles), a lasso which can either pull enemies/objects toward you or pulls you over to a heavier object or grapple point, and a big fist weapon for hitting bigger/heavier objects, similar to the pickaxe but stronger.
I'm about a third of the way through at two hours in and want to finish it at some point. While they're still enjoyable the puzzles have gotten rather samey, but I just reached a new chapter and I'm curious to see if they change things up next. The main character you play as has a mixed past that I want to find out more about (thus the title) and all the other characters in the town are fun to interact with as well. Going by achievements I haven't gotten there's apparently some kind of dating sim element to it so I'm curious how that will play out.
Super Robot Wars 30 is another title I've had in previous events but happens to fit perfectly as a Tactical RPG that I still haven't beaten and want to. If I put in 10 hours every Backlog Burner I should finish it in maybe a couple of years?
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal (edited )LinkDurinthal's Bingo Card (Form, Standard, 11/25) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 11/25 On-rails shooter ✅ Wanderstop Educational Parkour Programming ✅ Afterlove EP Escape room ✅ Coffee Caravan ✅...Durinthal's Bingo Card (Form, Standard, 11/25)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 11/25 On-rails shooter Cozy
✅ WanderstopEducational Parkour Programming Interactive fiction
✅ Afterlove EPEscape room Time management
✅ Coffee CaravanArena/boomer shooter
✅ DevilatedMining
✅ ProdigalExploration Tactical RPG
✅ Super Robot Wars 30★ Wildcard
✅ Hades IIDigital tabletop game
✅ Fabled LandsFighting Immersive sim Grand strategy/4X
✅ Super Fantasy KingdomBullet hell Vehicular combat Hack and slash Summer sports Dungeon crawler
✅ Wander StarsARPG Looter shooter Political sim
✅ Civilization VIIProbably going to play one or two more games tomorrow but not sure which ones yet.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI never owned Midtown Madness either... but there was a demo available and I played that at LAN parties with friends back then. We never did much in the way of racing but had fun just driving...I never owned Midtown Madness either... but there was a demo available and I played that at LAN parties with friends back then. We never did much in the way of racing but had fun just driving around the map and I definitely remember using the bridges as ramps.
-
Comment on Valve announces new hardware: Steam Frame, Steam Controller, and Steam Machine in ~games
Durinthal LinkThe Steam Machine has my attention as I was interested in the original iteration of the concept a decade ago. The Steam Deck finally proved Linux gaming was viable albeit not perfect, and my...The Steam Machine has my attention as I was interested in the original iteration of the concept a decade ago. The Steam Deck finally proved Linux gaming was viable albeit not perfect, and my experience with that has been good enough that I'd be happy to have the cube replace my docked Deck connected to my TV.
I'm maybe the perfect target for it as I don't need the most powerful machine, don't mind tinkering with things to make some games work compared to a console, and don't generally want to play any games that need Windows for one reason or another (e.g. anti-cheat). In theory I could stream games from my Windows PC, but one game I tried that with ran into some severe graphics issues like not rendering text or a character on the screen though I could see it working fine on my computer monitor. The same game didn't have those issues running on the Deck directly, it just didn't run as smoothly so I'd like the upgraded hardware directly hooked up to the TV.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentAnd back to games that are actually new to me! Afterlove EP is a story about love, loss, and music, and it caught my attention the moment I first saw a trailer for it some time ago. What separates...And back to games that are actually new to me!
Afterlove EP is a story about love, loss, and music, and it caught my attention the moment I first saw a trailer for it some time ago. What separates the "interactive fiction" tag from the "visual novel" one is beyond me and a number of games have both of them, but either way it's mostly walking between locations to have text conversations with a couple of simple rhythm games added in. I've only put an hour into it so far, getting through the intro and a couple of days in as it tracks time using a calendar with an event set at the end of the month. I definitely want to return to this as it's right up my alley, but just getting my initial impressions down.
Afterlove EP intro/first day
The very opening of the game being removing a bunch of photos of a girl from a corkboard is enough to tug at my emotions without any other context necessary. I imagine it might be too sentimental for some but it's the kind of thing that works for me.
Having Citra be the only voiced character — and only after her death — is an interesting choice and one I like. She's in our head the same way she is the main character Rama's, the only voice he's truly listening to at the start of the game. I imagine she'll fade as Rama gets through processing everything and it's a journey I'm looking forward to.
To give an idea of the tone of Devilated, there's a dedicated key for smoking a cigar and tossing out a one-liner in what sounds like an imitation Duke Nukem voice after killing an enemy, with some other snarky lines popping up as you go through a level. Aside from that it's more like Doom with a gory rampage through levels collecting red/green/blue keys to open doors until you get to the boss. I thought I liked arena shooters as Unreal Tournament 2004 is a personal favorite, but that might be an exception as I ended up liking the idea more than the execution of Devilated and shelved it after half an hour.
On the other hand I started Super Fantasy Kingdom and two hours passed by in a blink. I'm still early on with getting permanent upgrades rolling and new things unlocked but it's scratching a roguelite city builder itch and showing a lot of possibilities for later runs.
The core loop is fairly straightforward so far: develop the town and get resources to support an army to defend the town from monsters each day. Your forces fight automatically as the enemies charge in so it's mostly micromanaging what your workers are doing and choosing how to build out the town.
I could easily sink another 20 hours into this in a week but I think I'm going to limit myself to weekends for this one, making it compete with Civ VII for time at least in the short term. I think in the long run I'll burn out on it more quickly than I do Civ since each run is probably close to an order of magnitude shorter in time and it's more linear in how you approach it, but I don't need a game to be endlessly replayable.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentHades II was on my May 2024 card because it was initially released in early access that month, and after about 25 hours of that I put it away until the full release this September. I did an...Hades II was on my May 2024 card because it was initially released in early access that month, and after about 25 hours of that I put it away until the full release this September. I did an initial binge of another 55 hours then with a fresh file and after getting to the credits it became more of a "when I feel like it" game. Well, I felt like it with the patch that came out right at the end of October so since the start of the month I've put in another 30 hours to get the updated ending and through the epilogue.
Compared to the first Hades, for the most part this is more of it and I love it. At this point I'm satisfied and paring back to an occasional run here and there; there are some achievements yet to be earned but mostly because I just enjoy playing it and hearing from all the characters.
Hades II ending/epilogue
I know that a number of people didn't like Chronos suddenly becoming friendly, but I actually like it as an extension of the first game's theme of family reconciliation. My one quibble would be that I wanted Zagreus to be the one initially suggesting and pushing for a non-violent outcome (given his own experiences) with Melinoë resisting more at first, given that the mantra of most of her life has been "Death to Chronos." I think that's what the update gave to some extent, along with everyone in the House of Hades remembering the other timeline with Chronos and Melinoë present, so I'm mostly content.
As for the epilogue being the Fates' proclamation of a new age of mortals, I do think it's a bit funny as a way to stick it to both Chronos and the Olympians with neither of them ruling in the long run. I would have liked to get more dialogue with them but I'll take what I can get, though amusingly they do comment if you try reaching them ahead of when you're supposed to.
As for the post-game being revisiting parallel versions of Chronos/Typhon, I never minded that from a Doylist perspective as Typhon in particular never could have hung around to just spar like the other bosses and I wouldn't have expected Supergiant to come up with an entire alternate boss fight after the story progresses.
Civilization VII is another entry in a franchise I love and while I liked its potential enough to preorder and play it early, it was rough on release and this is the first time I'm getting to it with any patches.
So far I've only put in 4.5 more hours and gone from the start of a game to the end of the first age, Antiquity. I decided to go with the new leader/civilization that just came out so I'm playing as Edward Teach — Blackbeard — and starting as Tonga which lets me cross the ocean early with scouts even if I can't set foot on other continents yet due to the new distant lands mechanic, keeping the old and new world separate during the first age. One of Teach's abilities lets your ships act as privateers/pirates and attack any others even if you aren't at war with them, but that hasn't gotten much use yet with only a few coastal cities on my continent. On the other hand, even just finding the other civilizations and independent peoples across the water was great as I ended up befriending and becoming suzerain of most of them (and Tonga has a bonus for doing that with ones in distant lands).
While I'm generally tolerant of minor technical/graphical issues, the game had so many of them at launch that I couldn't really recommend it to anyone. Fortunately most of those are patched now, but the core mechanics that distinguish Civ 7 from earlier entries remain divisive. The idea of a general reset of the board between ages is interesting, but this time I went with the "continuity" option to retain most of the map state like units and alliances. I also don't mind switching between civilizations for each age, but they're also working on a way to play one civ start to finish though that's not yet available.
I'm not sure how much the legacy paths/victory options have changed with patches; the Antiquity versions were mostly unchanged but that was also the most polished age at launch. I'll probably return to it around Thanksgiving when I have more free time since I prefer to binge this in bigger chunks of time and also don't want to stay at my desk after being there for work all day.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal (edited )LinkDurinthal's Bingo Card (Form, Standard, 7/25) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 7/25 On-rails shooter Cozy Educational Parkour Programming ✅ Afterlove EP Escape room Time management ✅ Devilated...Durinthal's Bingo Card (Form, Standard, 7/25)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 7/25 On-rails shooter Cozy Educational Parkour Programming Interactive fiction
✅ Afterlove EPEscape room Time management Arena/boomer shooter
✅ DevilatedMining Exploration Tactical RPG ★ Wildcard
✅ Hades IIDigital tabletop game
✅ Fabled LandsFighting Immersive sim Grand strategy/4X
✅ Super Fantasy KingdomBullet hell Vehicular combat Hack and slash Summer sports Dungeon crawler
✅ Wander StarsARPG Looter shooter Political sim
✅ Civilization VIIThis past week was less games I haven't tried yet and more revisiting games that I wanted to put more time into with Hades II and Civilization VII to start.
-
Comment on The Doobie Brothers: Tiny Desk Concert (2025) in ~music
Durinthal Link ParentI also grew up listening to the radio stations my parents picked so I ended up developing a taste for that era of music myself. Even then I found my own niche, preferring more prog bands like Pink...I also grew up listening to the radio stations my parents picked so I ended up developing a taste for that era of music myself. Even then I found my own niche, preferring more prog bands like Pink Floyd and Rush compared to Styx and Journey (mom) or The Doobie Brothers and Allman Brothers Band (dad).
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentFabled Lands started as what one could in retrospect call an open-world RPG, albeit instead of a video game it was a series of printed game books with a choose your own adventure format....Fabled Lands started as what one could in retrospect call an open-world RPG, albeit instead of a video game it was a series of printed game books with a choose your own adventure format. Mechanically it's like a simple self-guided version of D&D: reading through a section describing the area you're in and picking from among the available options to explore or engage with something nearby (some only available if you have specific items in your inventory) until it gives you an ability check. Most checks are rolling two six-sided dice and adding a specified ability score to try to beat a set number, then going to the page with either the success or failure result and continuing from there.
I'm not sure how much I'll want to return to this in place of trying new things, but for the three hours I played the digital version today I felt like a tween again, sitting on my bedroom floor in my parents' house and repeatedly rolling a pair of dice while journeying through the fantasy world on the pages materializing in my mind.
The computerized edition transfers that experience as best it can for better or worse, with most of the interface being a virtual book that you read through and the dice showing on screen whenever you need to roll them. One major benefit is that a lot of the finicky inventory management is no longer done on paper, so there's no wearing a character sheet thin by repeatedly erasing and writing over the same lines. There's also a more in-depth combat system that I don't remember being present in the books, which is still a fairly basic turn-based system on a hex grid.
One thing that I distinctly remembered about the game is just how deadly it can be, as failing checks can result in a fatal ending pretty regularly. I started on a slightly easier difficulty and with better planning with decades more experience I haven't yet died, though I did lose my first ship immediately after I bought it. Did I mention that you can also own ships and try to be a merchant trading cargo between ports? I always wanted to do that as a kid but the dice never worked in my favor, too many storms and pirate attacks.
In retrospect these books even in their simplicity exemplified a lot of what I ended up liking later on in games such as an open-ended economy; I'm not sure if the series directly influenced my taste or happened to be one of the first things I came across that lined up with it.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI'm starting off with Wander Stars which I've put an hour into so far and it's fun! The main character's heavily inspired by Akira Toriyama in her design and she'd fit right in with the Dragon...I'm starting off with Wander Stars which I've put an hour into so far and it's fun! The main character's heavily inspired by Akira Toriyama in her design and she'd fit right in with the Dragon Ball cast, sparring and going on adventures with them. Mechanically it's a turn-based RPG where you string words together for moves each turn, e.g. "Super Wide Kick" where Kick is the base attack doing more damage (Super) to two enemies (Wide) with those words having a cooldown of some number of turns before you can use them again. You're also encouraged to befriend enemies once they're at low health rather than knocking them out as they give you more mechanical options/buffs that way, so the power of friendship wins the day.
At least so far it doesn't feel like much of a "dungeon" but I guess that tag comes from going around a map to different combat and treasure encounters which conceptually fits even if thematically it's not there yet.
-
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Durinthal (edited )LinkDurinthal's Bingo Card (Form, Standard, 2/25) Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 2/25 On-rails shooter Cozy Educational Parkour Programming Interactive fiction Escape room Time management Arena/boomer...Durinthal's Bingo Card (Form, Standard, 2/25)
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 2/25 On-rails shooter Cozy Educational Parkour Programming Interactive fiction Escape room Time management Arena/boomer shooter Mining Exploration Tactical RPG ★ Wildcard Digital tabletop game
✅ Fabled LandsFighting Immersive sim Grand strategy/4X Bullet hell Vehicular combat Hack and slash Summer sports Dungeon crawler
✅ Wander StarsARPG Looter shooter Political sim Options are sparse for a couple of those so I don't think I'll go for a blackout, but I won't have much of a problem in general. I'm aiming mostly for new to me games but there are a few I've put time into already but haven't finished yet that I want to return to as well.
-
Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Durinthal LinkI like the Form list as an option making me target different genres, got my card generated (and backed up) along with some ideas of which games to go for. It was fun to drop a convention bingo out...I like the Form list as an option making me target different genres, got my card generated (and backed up) along with some ideas of which games to go for. It was fun to drop a convention bingo out of nowhere in May but this month I'm back to starting with my regular backlog and playing games at home.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Durinthal Link ParentI just got the last few achievements I was missing at slightly over 31 hours total, doing a few low difficulty runs to get the evolutions I hadn't bothered to aim for before. Don't think I'll...I just got the last few achievements I was missing at slightly over 31 hours total, doing a few low difficulty runs to get the evolutions I hadn't bothered to aim for before. Don't think I'll bother with the New Game+ mode at this point, got what I wanted out of it.
-
Comment on Do you have a favorite setting shared amongst multiple authors? in ~books
Durinthal LinkI loved the Dragonlance setting up through the early 2000s and think at one point I had read almost all of them; I have a vague memory of having over a hundred volumes on my shelves in total....I loved the Dragonlance setting up through the early 2000s and think at one point I had read almost all of them; I have a vague memory of having over a hundred volumes on my shelves in total. Overall there's a wide variety in quality and tone but as a voracious young reader that carried a paperback everywhere I went I can't remember anything I actually disliked to the point of wanting to drop it or never wanting to read anything else from a specific author.
I'm considering checking out the new novels released in the past few years (which I only learned about today) though I don't know if I'd enjoy them as much these days. It's been roughly 20 years and I'd like to imagine my taste has gotten a little more refined, but now I've taken to binging translated Japanese light novels which definitely aren't high quality writing for the most part so maybe not.
More recently I did enjoy the setting created by Andrew Rowe (Arcane Ascension among other progression fantasy series) and it barely qualifies for the topic as there was a shared trilogy titled Shattered Legacy in the works with Kayleigh Nicol, but it was canceled after the second volume's release due to disagreements between them. It's been interesting seeing the mixed responses to that announcement though personally I'm disappointed since I enjoyed the first two novels and I'm planning on checking out Nicol's other works in the future.
-
Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Durinthal LinkBall x Pit has consumed a lot of my free time this past week since its release. The simplest comparison possible is Breakout style gameplay with Vampire Survivors laid on top of it with a variety...Ball x Pit has consumed a lot of my free time this past week since its release. The simplest comparison possible is Breakout style gameplay with Vampire Survivors laid on top of it with a variety of weapons, characters, and levels. It's the kind of thing that I'll put 30 hours into in a week or two and then never touch again, and I'm okay with that.
Some of the weird unlockable character abilities are fun:
One of them converts it into a turn-based game that alternates between you firing a burst of shots and the enemies moving up the field one space once all your balls have finished.
Another plays the game without any input, making it into more of an idle game where you only need to handle the meta progression between rounds if you want.
My current favorite character adds gravity (at the top by default) that affects ball trajectories, so instead of coming back to you at the bottom they'll continuously bounce across a row of enemies until there's a path off the top of the screen.
-
Comment on Thieves steal crown jewels in four minutes from Louvre Museum in Paris in ~arts
Durinthal Link ParentSeems more action focused at a glance but I'm gonna try Relooted once it's out.Seems more action focused at a glance but I'm gonna try Relooted once it's out.
I didn't intentionally pick two barista games to play back to back but it worked out.
The first trailer for Wanderstop had me interested in Alta's story and from the two hours I've put in so far, I want more of it. The gameplay loop is fairly straightforward: grow plants, make tea for customers based on their request, clean up the place. Explore Alta's past and present through having her drink the tea as well, evoking different feelings or memories based on the taste. No time pressure for any of that, so it fits the cozy tag. I've managed to avoid all discourse about The Stanley Parable from the same creator so I had no expectations going in, but was surprised by some parts already.
The first two customers...
So the first two customers that I ran into were quite goofy which initially felt like a weird contrast to Alta's overly serious demeanor, but I think that it can be a juxtaposition that works out for the better.
One is Gerald, a dad who's way too into his son and is currently parading around as a knight to impress him. Considering Alta was some kind of gladiator whose sword is her life partner and Gerald shows up with a modern American stop sign at one point, I'm also kind of curious as to the setting and how far the time shenanigans of the forest go.
The other customer early on is a demon hunter whose organization has turned to community service since they already got rid of most of the demons, including public speaking events. Alta is not enthusiastic.
Meanwhile, Coffee Caravan is all service, no story. You have different recipes that require different steps to make and need to get that done before the customer's timer runs out, earning the time management tag. One aspect that I wasn't expecting at all was that the parts of the game outside of the core loop of making and serving drinks is that there's a map and shop basically lifted wholesale from Slay the Spire. Instead of buying new cards or artifacts you get new recipes and equipment options/upgrades, like an automatic coffee grinder rather than needing to manually do that step.
However, I found myself waiting with nothing to do for five to ten seconds between customers even on the "hard" difficulty, so I think the game needs some tuning. Recipes can be toggled on and off so I can easily limit myself to ones with shared steps and equipment, and I can prepare some middle steps in advance without any penalty. For example, I kept one shot of espresso in a large cup at all times so it could quickly be turned into an Americano (add hot water), a Double Espresso (add a second shot), a Cappucino (add frothed milk), or a Flat White (add a second shot then frothed milk). Because I could froth the milk and boil water ahead of time those were always ready to instantly add, so the only step that took time beyond a button press was adding an espresso shot. If the frothed milk only lasted for a short time or a half-finished drink went bad after a bit so I couldn't do most of the work in advance, that would increase the time pressure a good amount.
Or maybe I'm just early on and it steadily ramps up, I'm not sure. I got through three or four maps and it seemed like after the third one it just gave another version of that indefinitely, but maybe I'm wrong.
All that said, I spent four hours on it and went an hour past when I was supposed to go to bed so even if it has flaws I had a compulsion to keep playing. Aside from coffee there are tea and ice cream game modes with their own recipes and I built a bubble tea empire before calling it a night, which has the same problem as the coffee where I can do most of the work early and only need to pick the right fruit flavor they're asking for once the customer arrives.