Lonan's recent activity
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan LinkI finished Chants of Sennaar yesterday. I had 10.5 hours on the save. What a weird ending compared to how the game starts, but I thought it was pretty good overall. Click to view my thoughts on...I finished Chants of Sennaar yesterday. I had 10.5 hours on the save. What a weird ending compared to how the game starts, but I thought it was pretty good overall.
Click to view my thoughts on the ending sections, with big spoilers
The penultimate section of the game was slightly disappointing, as rather than figuring out translations from speaking to people and understanding the context, the game did a sort of wheel puzzle thing. The puzzle has concentric circles with fixed tokens on each circle, and you had to match up the same word from the earlier tribes/cultures to unlock the final culture's equivalent word. There were just 3 of these, presented in computer terminals, and they were not particularly tricky or involved. After the more complex "Alchemist" puzzle to get past the door to the final area, I was expecting something else.
After that, the very end went slightly Star Trek, as you stop a super-computer power from enslaving the final group of people, trapped in its own mind-palace. I liked the last trick the game pulls, where it does a fake out "bad ending", but then there's a final final surreal part to the game, as you too are trapped in the virtual world.
Then the very last reveal is fairly clever. After you bring together all the people of the tower in harmony, the rotating 3D pyramid shape you have been unlocking as a side-quest turns out to be the most important glyph for all the tribes, but viewed from a different angle each time as it rotates around on its axes. So for the "Devotees" it is their god glyph, for the bard-people it is their word for beauty, and so on.
Anyway, a good game even though the stealth early-middle section felt out of place at the time. My overall feeling is that it was too short, which means it was probably just about right.
I also finished Bomberman Quest on the Game Boy Color (played emulated). This was a chosen game-of-the-month back in August or September on a Discord server I'm on, but I didn't get round to doing everything in it. The last "retro achievement" I had was to beat some of the bosses without taking damage. I liked the challenge of figuring out which bombs I needed to use to beat the final boss efficiently. My palms were sweating when I finally did it. If you've never played this one - I hadn't even heard of it before it got picked - it's a bit like Bomberman crossed with Link's Awakening. It's smaller in scope, but has more power-ups. You wander around an overworld, complete with hidden secrets, defeat monsters using the classic Bomberman-style bombs with their cross-shaped explosions, then go into short dungeons (4-10 screens usually) with bomb-toggle switches, defeat a boss, get a power-up, and unlock the next area. There are only 4 areas, then the final boss, but it has some optional stuff, and overall takes about 6-ish hours, then with the achievements it took me about twice that.
Next up I am going to try and finish Outer Wilds, which I stopped playing back in the summer. The end game was too scary for me last time I tried it, but I wanted to get the DLC and that is apparently even scarier so I'm going to have to stop being such a big chicken.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentI'm not sure about buying Dredge at some point. I played the demo of it on Switch, and it had a sort of "mobile game" vibe that I didn't love, with all the counters, cooldowns, and map-markers. It...I'm not sure about buying Dredge at some point. I played the demo of it on Switch, and it had a sort of "mobile game" vibe that I didn't love, with all the counters, cooldowns, and map-markers. It was fairly hectic and pushy at the start, probably because there are a lot of systems it wants to introduce. I thought it would be kind of Outer Wilds-like, in that you explore and discover secret stuff, but it seems kinda grindy and more RPG/roguelike-ish in its gameplay. Get stuff to get a better boat to get more stuff.
The main game loop seemed fun enough though, the sort of fish-tetris on the boat to maximize your catch, and I liked the way it gradually eased into the weirdness of it all. Like the way the normal fish you caught would occasionally be very spooky-looking. Then I went out at night and got killed by a scary giant fish almost without warning, and I think that was the end of the demo.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan (edited )LinkChants of Sennaar (Switch) was finally on offer on Switch this month, so I've been playing that. I really liked the demo of it, and so far I've played past the end of the section that involves the...Chants of Sennaar (Switch) was finally on offer on Switch this month, so I've been playing that.
I really liked the demo of it, and so far I've played past the end of the section that involves the race of characters that begin the game. You talk to the characters, who speak in a sort of glyph code, and have to decipher what it means by the context. Then there are puzzles that use this knowledge to advance - an early one for example is to decipher open / closed, and use that information to open or close some valves according to a sign, to change water flow to let you past.
The second floor I'm in now has gone a bit off the rails though. It turned from the chill puzzle game to a stealth game akin to Metal Gear Solid, where the language takes a back seat and it's all about timing your sneaking between guards. One wrong move and you get "killed" and sent back to the start of the area. It's too stressful! I had read complaints about this aspect, but thought they might be overblown. I was not expecting so much stealth to be involved, figuring it'd be a room or two (like in the demo). But no, it's room after room. Makes the part in Breath of the Wild with the banana-loving guys seem short and sweet.
The sneaking controls are also rather unusual, in that the game gives you these markers you can go to, which are fixed and shown by a white outline of your character, but the position is not always clear about which side of a wall it is on. So sometimes you think you will sneak to hide behind a wall, but in fact you sneak into a location on this side of a wall, out in the open, and get caught instantly. In addition, the enemies' outfits have very small details so you can barely tell the direction they are looking in. I've occasionally thought the guard was facing away from me, ran out "behind" said guard only to discover they were looking right at me. I just want the chill puzzles back! :(
(Edit: OK, I got past the roadblock, and the puzzling returned for a while... phew!)
After continuing past that tricky stealth part, it turns out it really was just a few rooms. It just felt like a lot more at the time! The rest of the game has not really involved anything as bad. There are a couple of timed jumps past obstacles, but they have been pretty easy to do. There was one more stealth section, but it was limited to literally one room, and used a second mechanic too so had some variety.
I think I may be near the end now. At least on the save screen it seems that all the niches on the tower that were initially empty now have doors showing. There are a few things I know I missed as I have a few words still left to translate.
Overall I've enjoyed the game, stealth section apart, and looking back even that wasn't so bad I suppose.
I really like it when games take information you thought you needed to solve one puzzle, but after something else is revealed later on you realize there was a second meaning to the same information that solves another problem. Chants of Sennaar does that trick a lot in the small, by giving you language "glyphs" in different contexts so you can try to guess their meaning, and then there are at least 2 memorable (to me) moments where it happens in a slightly bigger way. Information you thought you had finished with becomes a vital clue to progress past another point.
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Comment on What code editor / IDE do you use (2025)? in ~comp
Lonan Link ParentI have all my vim plugins in my own repository that I just put into whatever it is now, ~/.vimrc and a bunch of related directories. I really hated the direction vim plugins took a few years ago...I have all my vim plugins in my own repository that I just put into whatever it is now, ~/.vimrc and a bunch of related directories. I really hated the direction vim plugins took a few years ago (probably 15+ years ago now haha) where they started suggesting you use a plugin manager of some sort to download the .vim files from github and the like to make things easy. It is easier at first but creates a long term problem when repos change or plugins do things you don't like, and encourages a rat's nest of dependencies. I prefer to keep things mostly vanilla and where it isn't vanilla, the plugins are under my own control. I think I may have become one of those grumpy old Linux sysadmin types...
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Comment on If the Xbox Ally is the future of Xbox, Microsoft is in trouble in ~games
Lonan Link ParentAt work we've all had to upgrade our laptops just because Teams started running super slowly after a particular forced update.At work we've all had to upgrade our laptops just because Teams started running super slowly after a particular forced update.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentI played it about 2 years ago on Switch and loved it. I was put off by the reviews saying it was super difficult, but apart from one spike about halfway or 2/3rds through I found it doable (and...I played it about 2 years ago on Switch and loved it. I was put off by the reviews saying it was super difficult, but apart from one spike about halfway or 2/3rds through I found it doable (and I'm awful at games). Even that spike has a sort of cheese method using items to help.
By far the worst part of the game for me was when I got stuck for hours because I couldn't find a way to a location. I got into some end game puzzle dead ends just because I missed a path around a hidden corner. I ended up looking it up and was annoyed at myself and the game haha. The other sticking point was "-||-", I didn't realise what it meant, as there aren't really any clues for it. If you know, you know.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentYeah, I maybe sounded too negative overall. I enjoyed large parts of Pentiment, and it is unique. There aren't many games where you discuss the meaning of the communion bread in church ceremonies...Yeah, I maybe sounded too negative overall. I enjoyed large parts of Pentiment, and it is unique. There aren't many games where you discuss the meaning of the communion bread in church ceremonies with some random NPC. I also liked the actual parts where it was at its most "gamey", running around and gathering the information, and certain aspects of that do carry over. Townsfolk remember some of the earlier interactions you had, so it isn't all on rails. I suppose my disappointment was in part from the very high review scores, and going in spoiler-free so I wasn't aware it's more of a visual novel.
As for Viewfinder, that does look good. I am going to have to bite the bullet at some point and get a powerful enough PC to play these newer puzzle-type games. Blue Prince is another one I'm interested in there. I recently finished Lorelei and the Laser Eyes (on Switch again) and that was brilliant. That got great reviews too but had kind of mixed word of mouth so I avoided it for a long time, but I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it when I finally played it.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan LinkLately I've found I'm getting worse at games that require any kind of quick reactions. The straw was when I couldn't get past a boss on Luigi's Mansion 3, which up to that point had been pretty...Lately I've found I'm getting worse at games that require any kind of quick reactions. The straw was when I couldn't get past a boss on Luigi's Mansion 3, which up to that point had been pretty easy. So instead I've been playing some more cerebral stuff on Switch.
I played through Pentiment. I knew nothing going in to this, and initially was pretty disappointed given its good reviews. The game is described as a medieval murder mystery, which it kind of is. I'm not sure how much actual mystery solving you can do. While playing it felt like I had little input to the story, and nothing I did really made a huge difference.
For the most part, you speak to NPCs and there's a limit on how many conversations you can have before the story moves on almost automatically. For example, you can choose to have lunch with one family or another, and depending on who you eat with you will hear one side of a story or the other during the meal. You can't eat with both groups, and when the meal is over, the in-game clock advances, and people move on to their new chores or locations. You definitely will miss something. But in the scheme of things, it doesn't really matter, since hardly any of the information is actually used for anything.
Now that I've finished the game, I listened to a spoiler-filled podcast about it, and all of the major beats are left fairly vague or ambiguous, so any story choice you make is valid (whoever you point the finger at as the murder culprit). Choices seemed forced on me at several points, perhaps depending on who I spoke to, the replies I gave, and so on. Some of those were determined by selections of "abilities" made at the very beginning, like can my character read Latin or not. The podcast hosts made some different choices to mine, but the overall outcome was basically the same.
As the game went on I made more milquetoast choices in conversations, since saying anything slightly "controversial" seemed to lock me out of certain paths. Maybe. Anyway, it's an alright game, certainly unique, and once things picked up about an hour in it held my interest to the end, and the whole story wrapped up well. However it was more like a 7/10 for me, not the 10/10 it has been given in reviews. And I found a lot of it quite depressing! There were a few times I stopped playing because I didn't want to know how it continued, or to speak to NPCs who were very sad/depressed. In some ways it was like a Ken Follet novel, where unjust things happen to regular people over many years, as those in positions of power take more and more until there is a tragedy.
The conversation-based gameplay reminded me in some ways of Heaven's Vault, which I played a couple of years ago. That game has a more procedurally generated feel to it, but the choices you make seem to have more impact on what happens. I played through HV several times to see all of the possible story beats, whereas I'm not keen to play through Pentiment again.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentI watched a video review of that, and it's pretty interesting that the remake/remaster is still running all the old logic under the hood. You could even show the 8-bit vector-style 3D view in one...I watched a video review of that, and it's pretty interesting that the remake/remaster is still running all the old logic under the hood. You could even show the 8-bit vector-style 3D view in one corner. It reminded me of "The Dark Spire" on the Nintendo DS, which did a similar thing allowing you to choose between "modern" (also now ancient by today's standard) graphics and the black and white line-art vector style.
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Comment on Fast-food owners, squeezed customers test limit of value meal economy in ~food
Lonan Link ParentI was watching a Red Letter Media youtube video yesterday on the death of cinemas, and they also mentioned how everyone has forgotten about covid now. They were saying it in the context that...I was watching a Red Letter Media youtube video yesterday on the death of cinemas, and they also mentioned how everyone has forgotten about covid now. They were saying it in the context that cinemas can't blame "fear of being with lots of people in a closed space" as a reason for movie-goer numbers to be down. Big concerts are packed with people again, conventions are at full strength, travel is back to normal. The pandemic has been almost erased from our collective memory. Nobody really wants to remember it, I think that's part of why.
Essential works got screwed everywhere. Almost right after the pandemic nurses and other medical staff were on strike in parts of the UK and Europe because, despite being "essential", their pay was crap, their hours ridiculous, and their working conditions abusive. Food service is understaffed everywhere too because, surprise, the pay is bad so nobody wants to do it. Dealing with the public sucks as well, people are ruder than ever.
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Comment on What video games have had you taking real-life notes? in ~games
Lonan (edited )Link ParentYou keep the fast travel routes, which reduces some repetitive play. There are a few things that I missed on first play, but none of it is really major. It's more like you notice subtle...You keep the fast travel routes, which reduces some repetitive play. There are a few things that I missed on first play, but none of it is really major. It's more like you notice subtle differences in what people say or choices made. Six reveals some more information, I think. I imagine you got certain characters to end up on different moons to where they started, and there are a couple of endings like that for different people, I don't think it's possible to see all of them on one run through. You should know what ends the game, as it were, so know when/how it will wrap up - this means you can keep exploring and avoid the end point, or if you are getting fed up then you can beeline for the end.
For the translation, the texts you know for sure are kept, but you lose any "?" words and all previous full sentences. The latter is a shame because context helps with other words, but I got used to it.
It only got really repetitive on the 4th run through for me so I stopped there, but I've read people online say that up to 7 times through they had new stuff.
(edit to clarify what I meant about the end point)
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentI was listening to the Axe Of The Bloodgod podcast, the latest episode where they praise TTYD a lot, and apparently one of the hosts interviewed Miyamoto back around the time of those sequels and...I was listening to the Axe Of The Bloodgod podcast, the latest episode where they praise TTYD a lot, and apparently one of the hosts interviewed Miyamoto back around the time of those sequels and asked him "why do you hate story?" 😅
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Comment on What video games have had you taking real-life notes? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentYes! I loved that game. I didn't take notes in it but played through the story 3 or 4 times. By the end I could recognise the words and little extra do-dad glyphs. One of the best rewards for...Yes! I loved that game. I didn't take notes in it but played through the story 3 or 4 times. By the end I could recognise the words and little extra do-dad glyphs. One of the best rewards for handing something over to your pal on Iox was more stuff to translate.
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Comment on What video games have had you taking real-life notes? in ~games
Lonan LinkLast game I used actual pen and paper for was Tunic. There is a rather nice puzzle that requires... well, I can't talk about Tunic because discovery is half the fun of it. But I took screenshots,...Last game I used actual pen and paper for was Tunic. There is a rather nice puzzle that requires... well, I can't talk about Tunic because discovery is half the fun of it. But I took screenshots, then copied out the clues on paper to piece together the information in the screenshots. Several end-game puzzles required drawing things actually. It's a weird game because the first two-thirds was mostly pure actiony, then the final part went full on puzzle madness.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Lonan LinkI watched the animation film Robot Dreams. It has a suspiciously high Rotten Tomatoes rating, currently 99% for critics and 90% audience, which just screams "astroturfing" to me. Also, I suspect...I watched the animation film Robot Dreams. It has a suspiciously high Rotten Tomatoes rating, currently 99% for critics and 90% audience, which just screams "astroturfing" to me. Also, I suspect I'm not the target market for this type of film, but despite all that, it wasn't bad.
Complete coincidence that it's the 2nd film in a row I've watched that has an 80s theme. Last week was Totally Killer, where the protagonist traveled back in time to 1987, whereas Robot Dreams is set in 80s Manhattan, with the dog character always slurping on a can of Tab. (I was just a kid in the 80s, I'm going to feel really old when we start getting 90s and early 2000s nostalgia movies)
There are a few moments that drag on longer than necessary, but the film was mostly a series of random vignettes so if you didn't like one, then it'd change to something else in a short while. The overall story was bittersweet, and the animation was really good. I liked the way it animated everyday occurrences in a sort of exaggerated realistic way. The mac and cheese popping in the microwave, or the condensation dripping in the bus window, for example. The ending was sort of unexpected, but also fitting to the overall vibe of the film.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Lonan Link ParentJust a heads up, the spoiler there has not turned out right and is in plain sight.Just a heads up, the spoiler there has not turned out right and is in plain sight.
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Comment on Midweek Movie Free Talk in ~movies
Lonan LinkI watched Totally Killer (2023) and really liked it. The elevator pitch would be "Scream meets Back to The Future", kinda, in that it's about a murderer and involves someone going back in time to...I watched Totally Killer (2023) and really liked it. The elevator pitch would be "Scream meets Back to The Future", kinda, in that it's about a murderer and involves someone going back in time to the 1980s. I don't like horror / gore, so the stabbing scenes were pretty awful, but they are done in that over-the-top slasher film style - there's one in particular that looked really fake, you could pretty much see the squibs going off separate to the knife! I'm a huge fan of time travel movies so put up with that gruesomeness to enjoy the rest of the film.
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Comment on It’s time to bury the defective detective in ~tv
Lonan Link ParentI've been watching "Jonathan Creek" and it fits this pattern. The main character is a magician's assistant and lives in a windmill.I've been watching "Jonathan Creek" and it fits this pattern. The main character is a magician's assistant and lives in a windmill.
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Comment on If you had up to US$250 to get one person into a hobby you're interested in, what would you do to get them started? in ~hobbies
Lonan Link ParentI've been playing guitar since 2017 and had to look up what an OM was! For anyone not in the know, it stands for "orchestra model" and is a size of acoustic guitar slightly smaller than a...I've been playing guitar since 2017 and had to look up what an OM was! For anyone not in the know, it stands for "orchestra model" and is a size of acoustic guitar slightly smaller than a "dreadnought" acoustic (these are almost comically large in real life) while maintaining the full scale size. A good choice. I bought a 2nd hand Yamaha F310 starting out for far less than $200 and I still use it all the time. But being a dreadnought, it is gigantic and had I known more I would have gotten something smaller.
Haha, I am like your pre-purchase self with No Man's Sky. I keep seeing the new trailers and frequent sales, and think "oh, that looks interesting!" but luckily I've always listened to that little voice that says "it's just a fancy front-end to an Excel spreadsheet, don't do it!" Or watch those getting started videos where it's a guy shooting bunch of rocks for ages on 10x speed, and remember I have better stuff to do. I remember playing a small amount of Minecraft a decade ago, and I couldn't be bothered to farm, nor had the imagination for building things, and NMS seems like that but in space.