Eidolon's recent activity
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentThanks for the very helpful run down and explaining where ARC sits relative to other popular titles. I've never played an extraction shooter, but this game was recommended to me recently. I think...Thanks for the very helpful run down and explaining where ARC sits relative to other popular titles. I've never played an extraction shooter, but this game was recommended to me recently. I think I could live with a little bit of PvP and mostly just playing as you do. Might look into it for Christmas...
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentPosted my reply in the wrong place: reposting here. I haven't played Expedition 33, but based on the comparisons you made to Baldur's Gate 3, I don't think you are in the wrong. I've been...Posted my reply in the wrong place: reposting here.
I haven't played Expedition 33, but based on the comparisons you made to Baldur's Gate 3, I don't think you are in the wrong. I've been struggling to explain to several of my friends who can't get enough of BG3 to try to explain how the game seemed to me to be deficient at a deeper level, and what you're saying made a lot of sense to me. Let me know if you've reviewed BG3 on this site before - I'd love to read your review!
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Comment on Games: Your personal year in review for 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentCan you explain what you mean by feigning friendliness when this is a PvP game? I don't know what that PvPvE tag means when it comes to the culture and conventions of this game on the ground. PvP...Can you explain what you mean by feigning friendliness when this is a PvP game? I don't know what that PvPvE tag means when it comes to the culture and conventions of this game on the ground. PvP is always offputting to me and I'm curious as to how much emphasis it has in the game. Would it be suitable for people who much prefer PvE?
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentYeah in my case it was as simple as setting the correct screen resolution. There is something quite satisfying about a simple one word text change and ctrl-s taking the program from broken to...Yeah in my case it was as simple as setting the correct screen resolution. There is something quite satisfying about a simple one word text change and ctrl-s taking the program from broken to fully playable.
I have seen mixed reviews of the new Gothic unfortunately. Apparently it isn't well optimised, hopefully they'll improve that for 1.0. As for criticisms that the remake lacks the original spirit - it's made in Unreal Engine 5, so inevitably it's going to feel more generic. But I'll reserve judgement for when I play the game when it eventually goes on sale - and will certainly report back.
Thanks - I think the classics could probably keep me going for a decade or more, there's so many titles on my list! It's exciting but overwhelming.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Eidolon LinkI'm just happy to be able to tag along with a very minimalist approach while my time is so limited. When my time frees up, I look forward to bombarding you all with text and getting into new Bingo...I'm just happy to be able to tag along with a very minimalist approach while my time is so limited. When my time frees up, I look forward to bombarding you all with text and getting into new Bingo game modes. Thanks all and see you next time!
Final Bingo card:
Mode: Standard Winning Bingo! Finished 6/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running
✅ Gothic 1Someone else has played it for their Backlog Burner Randomness determines your fate Has a lives system You can save/pet/care for animals Has great reviews, but not your usual type Recommended by someone on Tildes You can complete it in only a few hours Has driving ★ Wildcard Has a score system A modded game Has a first-person perspective
✅ Gothic IIIs mostly text-based
✅ RoadwardenYou're giving it a second chance
✅ NoitaHas a moody vibe
✅ UnderRailHas a moral choice system
✅ Planescape TormentPopular game you never got around to playing Has a fishing minigame From a genre you don’t normally play You wanted it when you were younger Adaptation of other media type (e.g. board game, movie) -
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentThank you as always for organising this. My thanks also to @Wes for the cards. I'm playing exclusively on Arch Linux these days (Cachy OS).Thank you as always for organising this. My thanks also to @Wes for the cards.
I'm playing exclusively on Arch Linux these days (Cachy OS).
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon (edited )LinkMode: Standard Winning Bingo! Finished 6/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character ✅ Gothic 1 Someone else has played it for their Backlog...Mode: Standard Winning Bingo! Finished 6/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running
✅ Gothic 1Someone else has played it for their Backlog Burner Randomness determines your fate Has a lives system You can save/pet/care for animals Has great reviews, but not your usual type Recommended by someone on Tildes You can complete it in only a few hours Has driving ★ Wildcard Has a score system A modded game Has a first-person perspective
✅ Gothic IIIs mostly text-based
✅ RoadwardenYou're giving it a second chance
✅ NoitaHas a moody vibe
✅ UnderRailHas a moral choice system
✅ Planescape TormentPopular game you never got around to playing Has a fishing minigame From a genre you don’t normally play You wanted it when you were younger Adaptation of other media type (e.g. board game, movie) Bingo strike achieved!
Noita - 'You're giving it a second chance'
Noita was the first game I'd ever played with permadeath, a procedurally generated map and a progression system. On first play, I dropped it after a couple of hours of dying so much. The experience put me off the entire roguelike and roguelite genre for a few years, until I tried Balatro, Hades and Against the Storm. I knew I had to give Noita a second chance.
I could see many features which I hadn't quite picked up on the first time around. I really like the tactility of the play. The movement and combat is fluid. Everything about the sound design is excellent. I love how the music comes in short bursts and triggers when the action is heating up. The physics and explosions are impressive, it's so satisfying breaking the world into bits and setting up massive chain reactions.
However, I did also replicate my first-time experience by dying plenty of times. Admittedly I'm not good at platformers, my timing and co-ordination aren't great. I like games I can take my time with and not be under pressure. So Noita I find genuinely challenging and frustrating. I managed to get into the second zone a few times, but the action ramped up so much it made the first zone seem tranquil.
What I am guessing, based on hints on the Steam reviews, is that I need to experiment as much as possible with incendiary combinations that could make life a lot easier for me. I think if I kept playing casually on the side, I could possibly like this game. I'm not sure, but I'm willing to test my resolve.
Roadwarden - 'Is mostly text-based'
Roadwarden is an interactive fiction text-based indie RPG released in 2022. It has a 'hidden gem' status and you can pick it up for an absurdly cheap price on sale. Honestly I'm enjoying it so much that I feel bad for not paying full price. So far I've had zero issues or bugs and it plays great on Linux.
You play as a 'Roadwarden' venturing out to investigate the roadways of the realm, while also looking for clues about your predecessor's mysterious disappearance. In your first interaction, you can choose your class (fighter / mage / scholar), religious disposition and purpose. The standard mode has a global time limit of 40 in-game days to complete your main task, but you can also customize your game to remove that cap. Apparently the time limit is not too harsh, but it encourages you to use time and travel wisely so that 'day off' regeneration abilities are not exploited. While modern in feel, the game is clearly inspired by old-school adventure classics and it just feels well-thought out.
After my first session, I did not want to close the game - an extremely rare experience for me these days. It is strongly immersive, the writing is detailed and lore-rich. The music is superb. The visual pixel two-toned style is quirky yet quite cosy. You're greeted with a decaying world that's very disconnected, so you find yourself tying threads together from what you're told about settlements and various points of interest. The dangerous parts of the world do truly feel that way, as the communities stick to their safe zones. So far, even just trying to satisfy the survival mechanics is satisfyingly difficult but not unreasonable. There are some interactions which require word inputs, so there is a light puzzle aspect to it as well. The game allows you to write notes inside the journal, but I've got my pen and paper out and I've made heaps of notes already.
I think what I like about it so much is that it's quite 'chill' and not too demanding, as far as text-reading goes. Yes there's lots of text, but it's not Planscape Torment or Disco Elysium, you can breeze through it a bit more. Thankfully they changed the default pixel text style to a smooth font that's easy to read. I'm very excited to continue my playthrough!
Update 30/11 - Gothic 1 - Game you have to tinker to get it to work -
I thought I was over Gothic for a while after finishing Gothic 2, but after playing Planescape I thought I needed to go back to an action-RPG that's a bit easier to digest. Gothic 2 was almost a plug and play experience on Linux with Steam workshop mods and a few manual mods - the only 'trick' was to install the 'legacy'/older edition of the DX9>DX11 mod instead of the current version. Gothic 1 however has a reputation for requiring significant tweaks to work on Windows and there are various lengthy tutorials on the subject.
In the end, it wasn't so bad. I progressed from critical failure at launch, to persistent blackscreen, to the game maxxing out my GPU and CPU, to the game lacking any grass. The fixes were simple, just .ini tweaks, ensuring the mod loadout was correct and downloading a manual fix for the grass. Now everything is working flawlessly, although the game does feel quite a bit jankier than Gothic II! I'll probably complete this over the holiday season, then I might try the Gothic Remake demo just to compare.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 3 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon LinkMode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running Someone else has played it...Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 3/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running Someone else has played it for their Backlog Burner Randomness determines your fate Has a lives system You can save/pet/care for animals Has great reviews, but not your usual type Recommended by someone on Tildes You can complete it in only a few hours Has driving ★ Wildcard Has a score system A modded game Has a first-person perspective
✅ Gothic IIIs mostly text-based You're giving it a second chance Has a moody vibe
✅ UnderRailHas a moral choice system
✅ Planescape TormentPopular game you never got around to playing Has a fishing minigame From a genre you don’t normally play You wanted it when you were younger Adaptation of other media type (e.g. board game, movie) Planescape Torment
I am sorry to say that my only conclusion is that I cannot adequately review this game right now. I needed an excuse to get a first impression and having made it through the tutorial, I'm set on completing it, but not now. I'm too snowed under with work projects to cope with such a cerebral game. But I did like what I saw. Clever, witty writing. Descriptive nuance. A morality system from DnD (hence ticking off my category) with a twisted inversion of the ethics of living and death. An Enhanced Edition which highlights the things you can interact with, making the game a lot easier but also just saving you heaps of time. A detailed, intriguing setting. And the soundtrack is great, although it really should have been remastered for the EE. The Combat was really the only thing I found a little grating and it seems like quite a basic point and click, but I haven't really gotten into the game far enough yet to see how tactical it is. I've deposited this back into my backlog, but now I know that it's a priority for when I'm ready for it.
Onto next week...will have to make the effort to get through two games to finish my streak!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentThanks, it's very much a long-term thing. It will probably take me a decade to work through a good amount of the classics as I have so little spare time!Thanks, it's very much a long-term thing. It will probably take me a decade to work through a good amount of the classics as I have so little spare time!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon LinkMode: Standard Bingo! Finished 2/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running Someone else has played it...Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 2/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running Someone else has played it for their Backlog Burner Randomness determines your fate Has a lives system You can save/pet/care for animals Has great reviews, but not your usual type Recommended by someone on Tildes You can complete it in only a few hours Has driving ★ Wildcard Has a score system A modded game Has a first-person perspective
✅ Gothic IIIs mostly text-based You're giving it a second chance Has a moody vibe
✅ UnderRailHas a moral choice system Popular game you never got around to playing Has a fishing minigame From a genre you don’t normally play You wanted it when you were younger Adaptation of other media type (e.g. board game, movie) UnderRail
UnderRail is a modern old-school inspired CRPG set in a post-apocalyptic underground metro station. Released in 2015, the game was developed by a small indie dev team and quickly gained a strong cult following. It's a game that gets under your skin. Definitely a moody vibe, helped by great sound design and the dystopian worldbuilding. I got hooked initially, but it was punishing enough that I put it down for a while. It's a fully fleshed out vision of a sprawling world that conveys the beauty of decay but with a brutality that forces you to stay on your toes constantly. The visual design is just great, with so much clever lighting and attention to detail. The tactical combat is challenging and favours following a premade build on your first run, which I am doing. But nothing about this game is easy, which I think is why it gets so much praise. It's supposed to have been inspired the most by Fallout and Planescape Torment, the former I haven't played and the latter which I am just starting for this burner. So I am a bit ignorant of the genre, but I do really like the game so far. It's very polished and I can see it has a lot of depth, although I'm only 10 hours in. The world is quite expansive and the worldmap is sometimes just downright confusing because of all the layers, but I love being able to write my own little notes which are attached to each zone on the worldmap, as reminders of what I've missed or where the dangers are etc. I really wish I had the time to write out a decent review for this game, one day when I'm finished I will.I'll be shelving this game back into the backlog for now, simply because I am wanting to the play oldschool classics for a bit so that I have more perspective on RPGs in general, but for those that like oldschool CRPGs, I recommend checking it out. The second installment UnderRail 2 Infusion is also in development and has recently been listed on Steam, though it will be a couple of years away I think.
I've already given away my game for next week - Planescape Torment, which I just dipped into for the first time last night. Back next week!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentI would recommend it, though I don't know much about Risen. I think the early Gothic series is the most cherished. And yes I can definitely see the bones of later RPGs in Gothic , like the 24-hour...I would recommend it, though I don't know much about Risen. I think the early Gothic series is the most cherished. And yes I can definitely see the bones of later RPGs in Gothic , like the 24-hour NPC routine and the 'guild' affiliation questline based on a basic class type. But I need to understand the context and do some more reading to understand the influence it had.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion in ~games
Eidolon LinkHere's my card: Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 1/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running Someone...Here's my card:
Mode: Standard Bingo! Finished 1/25 Has both combat and puzzles You chose it based on title alone You can create your own character You have to tinker to get it running Someone else has played it for their Backlog Burner Randomness determines your fate Has a lives system You can save/pet/care for animals Has great reviews, but not your usual type Recommended by someone on Tildes You can complete it in only a few hours Has driving ★ Wildcard Has a score system A modded game Has a first-person perspective
✅ Gothic IIIs mostly text-based You're giving it a second chance Has a moody vibe Has a moral choice system Popular game you never got around to playing Has a fishing minigame From a genre you don’t normally play You wanted it when you were younger Adaptation of other media type (e.g. board game, movie) Gothic II
My first week in and I've fully completed Gothic II, including the DLC (Night of the Raven). Completion is pretty rare for me in Burners as usually I just dip in and don't get to finish a game - although admittedly I was reasonably near the end of the game. And I'd probably say I got to around 80-90% completion of all the sidequests and additional stuff, though I haven't looked up what I've missed. I started Gothic II because I'm playing old RPG classics. I thought I had better try a Piranha Bytes game to see what all the fuss was about. I should have really started with Gothic I, given that the storyline continues, but was still fine to go in without prior knowledge. And it turns out everyone was right. They really did excel at exploration mechanics and world design. I also really enjoyed the brutal combat difficulty which the DLC brought to the base game experience (though that subsided once I got OP quite a way into the game). The often non-linear questing was cool also and I enjoyed the characters. The voice acting was tonally a bit overwrought and annoying, and I did switch to German with English subs for a bit, but I went back to English for the entertainment value. I still have to play other RPGs to really get a sense of how it compares to other titles at the time because I haven't played enough, but I suspect it would be up there with the best of the 3D RPGs of the time. Now I've got Gothic I (original, not too interested in the upcoming remake) and of course the fan-made total overhaul spiritual successor, Chronicles Of Myrtana: Archolos to try out, but I think I need to move on to something else for a bit before I get back into the series...perfect timing for this burner to come around.
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Comment on Announcing the Backlog Burner event for November 2025: Shrink your unplayed games list this coming month! in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentI'm in and just as time constrained as I have been on every Burner, but I will be dropping in when I can. I just might post a little late sometimes!I'm in and just as time constrained as I have been on every Burner, but I will be dropping in when I can. I just might post a little late sometimes!
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of October 12 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentAmazing, I'm humbled by your generosity. What you are describing with your recent move is very similar to what I've been through with a city move a long time ago. Having to get used to a new place...Amazing, I'm humbled by your generosity.
What you are describing with your recent move is very similar to what I've been through with a city move a long time ago. Having to get used to a new place while you've got your own headspace to battle with is very challenging and I'm glad you're finding some perspective. The most important thing is to stay connected and reach out whenever you need to.
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Comment on Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of October 12 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentEchoing @DistractionRectangle. I don't post very much but I do check this thread every week. Welcome back! I'll put my hand up for Jagged Alliance 3. I'm a fan of JA2 and will be playing through...Echoing @DistractionRectangle. I don't post very much but I do check this thread every week. Welcome back!
I'll put my hand up for Jagged Alliance 3. I'm a fan of JA2 and will be playing through JA1 quite soon, as I'm working my way through old school classics. JA3 is apparently a worthy successor in the series.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentNoted. I haven't played Resident Evil so didn't pick up on this, it makes sense. I am pretty ignorant about horror in general, I scare too easily so quite happy to pass this one on. I did not know...Noted. I haven't played Resident Evil so didn't pick up on this, it makes sense. I am pretty ignorant about horror in general, I scare too easily so quite happy to pass this one on.
I did not know any of these beaver facts...the first two seem like great evolutionary qualities, the last one not so much. Now I'm wondering why they produce that oil in the first place, I will have to look into this.
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentRegistered - great pick, I'm liking the game so far. I have heard this fact! Bees never cease to impress me. I would love to have a garden some day that is designed to bee friendly (sorry couldn't...Registered - great pick, I'm liking the game so far. I have heard this fact! Bees never cease to impress me. I would love to have a garden some day that is designed to bee friendly (sorry couldn't help myself).
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentFantasy General, for the old school flavour, please!Fantasy General, for the old school flavour, please!
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Comment on Tildes Game Giveaway: June/July 2025 in ~games
Eidolon Link ParentNoted! I had heard about the trinkets but not these other traits. Very cool. I'd love to make friends with one, but they aren't present where I live so I've never seen one.Noted!
I had heard about the trinkets but not these other traits. Very cool. I'd love to make friends with one, but they aren't present where I live so I've never seen one.
Thanks for elaborating, I think I've got a good sense of it now. It's interesting to me that a PvE preference is the default, I wonder if the devs anticipated that. My only problem is not having enough time to play games!