Shevanel's recent activity
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Comment on What is your Mandela effect moment? in ~movies
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Shevanel (edited )LinkI just realized that the developer of 20 Small Mazes, FLEB, released a second game at some point last year called Strange Jigsaws. Blew through it quick over the last couple of days. Both of these...I just realized that the developer of 20 Small Mazes, FLEB, released a second game at some point last year called Strange Jigsaws. Blew through it quick over the last couple of days. Both of these games are great and I highly recommend them. Bite-sized puzzles that don’t really ever stray into moon logic. I had several laugh out loud moments due to clever solves and cute design choices. 20 Small Mazes is free, and as of the posting of this comment, Strange Jigsaws is 50% off on Steam for a grand total of $2.50 USD. It takes about twice as long as 20 Small Mazes does (at least for me, I’m not great at puzzles) and is totally worth the price of admission!
I also just 100%ed Pepper Grinder a couple days ago, which is absolutely not like me for an arcadey platformer. That one sunk its claws into me DEEP; great combination of addicting, fast-paced gameplay with a time-trial mode that, all things considered, was pretty forgiving. The drill movement was fun and new mechanics were introduced throughout which made it easy to want to keep playing, and nothing overstayed its welcome. Soundtrack was also great; strong Celeste vibes throughout.
100%ing the game more or less comes down to collecting all of the hidden coins and getting gold medals on all of the levels. The hidden coins feel very New Super Mario Bros. - they are indeed hidden, but not so drastically that you'll be wasting hours of your life finding them. And the time trial golds are basically all achievable by going through the levels as intended without making any huge errors - they're pretty forgiving. Each level is ~1-2 minutes in length, with some standouts in either direction.
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Shevanel Link ParentSULFUR is great; enjoyed the demo and I plan on giving it a go as soon as it leaves early access! Glad to know it’s an enjoyable game all the way through.SULFUR is great; enjoyed the demo and I plan on giving it a go as soon as it leaves early access! Glad to know it’s an enjoyable game all the way through.
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Comment on What game are you terrible at? in ~games
Shevanel Link ParentIt’s been a while since I’ve played, but if I recall correctly, virtually everything that doesn’t make a red warning symbol pop-up on the screen (with an accompanying orchestral string hit) can be...not everything can be blocked and it's not always clear what can be and what can't and what needs a special counter
It’s been a while since I’ve played, but if I recall correctly, virtually everything that doesn’t make a red warning symbol pop-up on the screen (with an accompanying orchestral string hit) can be deflected (parried). The timing might suck or feel super unintuitive, but it should hold true for most anything. That’s not to say that there won’t be status buildups like poison, fire, etc but those are relatively rare.
I was only half joking in my other comment about it being a rhythm game. I actually hard-disagree on the stance of “mashing” the deflect button. You should never be mashing anything. Your deflects should be precise inputs in time with whatever the enemies’ swings are. Mashing will get you punished because the reset between mashes leaves you vulnerable. If you’re unsure on the timing of an enemy attack, better to try to time the deflect, but then keep the block button held in case you blocked early. Then once you figure out their timing, switch to single quick taps.
Your stamina also resets faster when you’re blocking, which is another unintuitive non-soulslike approach. The game wants you to block until an attack is about to hit, then let up and tap again to deflect. It feels super weird to get used to, but it feels so good once you get into the rhythm.
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Comment on What game are you terrible at? in ~games
Shevanel (edited )Link ParentI mean, it makes sense. You’re good at action RPGs, why would that translate to a rhythm game? ;) You’re not asking for advice, but for whatever it’s worth, Hirata is considered a mid/late-game...I mean, it makes sense. You’re good at action RPGs, why would that translate to a rhythm game? ;)
You’re not asking for advice, but for whatever it’s worth, Hirata is considered a mid/late-game location even though you can access it early. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed if you explore it right when you first find it.
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Comment on What lesser-known sci-fi reads do you recommend? in ~books
Shevanel Link ParentCould’ve guessed you’d choose this based on your username. :) +1 to this, though. It’s been ages since I’ve re-read any of his novels; I most recently worked through a lot of his non fiction which...Could’ve guessed you’d choose this based on your username. :)
+1 to this, though. It’s been ages since I’ve re-read any of his novels; I most recently worked through a lot of his non fiction which I really enjoyed as well!
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Comment on How often are you eating plant based meals? in ~food
Shevanel LinkI've been dabbling in vegetarianism as of late. I joke with my wife that I'm the worst vegetarian in the world. I'm soft-stealing that concept from a quote that I believe can be attributed to...I've been dabbling in vegetarianism as of late. I joke with my wife that I'm the worst vegetarian in the world. I'm soft-stealing that concept from a quote that I believe can be attributed to Nikki Boes (though I know nothing about this individual, this all came from a Google search) - "The world needs more imperfect [vegetarians]" (she said "vegans," but same idea).
Like a few others in this thread, I basically choose the veg option whenever convenient when we go to restaurants, though 1. I won't inconvenience my wife or kid if there aren't any sensible options, and will opt for a meat option instead, and 2. if the only leftovers we have in the house have meat in them, I'll partake. The way I see it, if we already cooked / bought the food and it's going to go to waste, I'd rather it get eaten than wasted outright, especially because my wife and kid are not big leftovers-eaters. I don't see it as a moral victory to not eat the meat in this case, but totally understand why that might sound silly to others.
At home, I try to balance recipes with my wife. She'll choose a few omnivore recipes, I'll choose a few vegetarian recipes, and we mix and match as the week goes on. She's also been happy to experiment with making meatless versions of old favorites in our home, which has been fun to experiment with.
I will say that, especially in home cooking, I very rarely miss meat. Tofu is an excellent alternative and comes in so many forms anymore. Tempeh is surprisingly versatile and I've even been able to make convincing crumbled Italian sausage with it. But yes, as others have stated, the allure of dairy (specifically cheese) and the versatility and prominence of eggs, makes it considerably harder to jump from vegetarian to vegan IMO, so I'm not interested in making the leap yet. I do have a few vegan meals that I happily make - these vegan scrambled eggs are now on regular rotation at home. They don't really taste much like eggs (they're not one of the "egg" recipes that utilize black salt, though I've heard good things), but they scratch the same itch!
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Comment on What are your thoughts on audiobooks? in ~books
Shevanel Link Parent+1 for this especially. I prefer books generally, but when I’m doing something mindless, audiobooks give my brain something to do. Laundry and/or dishes plus an audiobook is something I actually...I love them in situations where I'm not distracted by anything else, long boring drives, flights, etc. I also walk a lot and now I can't stand it if I don't have a book or podcast to listen to.
+1 for this especially. I prefer books generally, but when I’m doing something mindless, audiobooks give my brain something to do. Laundry and/or dishes plus an audiobook is something I actually look forward to doing.
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Comment on Albums based on a recurring musical phrase in ~music
Shevanel (edited )LinkKind of a gimme, but Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings trilogy soundtrack is one of the shining examples of leitmotif in a modern orchestral score. I won’t go into the details because there are...Kind of a gimme, but Howard Shore’s Lord of the Rings trilogy soundtrack is one of the shining examples of leitmotif in a modern orchestral score. I won’t go into the details because there are plenty of great analyses out there but I highly recommend that musical rabbit hole to anyone who might be even slightly interested in it.
Ninja edit: this site is quite old, but IMO it’s one of the best and most comprehensive web resources on Shore’s leitmotifs throughout the soundtrack. Pro tip: the musical note next to the headers are buttons you can press to play the given theme on each page!
Totally unrelated, but Richard Henshall’s Mu, Vol. I is a phenomenal instrumental rock/metal example of a “variations and a theme” (not to be confused with a theme and variations!). The entire EP has bits and pieces of a simple melody woven through it which finally culminates in its full statement during the last song on the album, which is also the EP’s namesake. Henshall is one of the guitarists for the progressive metal band Haken and his influence in that group is obvious, though I have to say I think I like this album as much as, if not more than a lot of Haken’s material!
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Comment on People who have run events on Tildes or maintaining long running series of posts, any lessons or advices? in ~tildes
Shevanel Link ParentAs somebody who LOVES the Backlog Burner events, even as a lurker, but has only had the opportunity to fully participate a single time, please know that your (and @Wes’s) efforts are seen and...As somebody who LOVES the Backlog Burner events, even as a lurker, but has only had the opportunity to fully participate a single time, please know that your (and @Wes’s) efforts are seen and truly appreciated! I know it’s far from the only thing you do on Tildes, but they are always a bright spot for me!
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Comment on What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them? in ~games
Shevanel LinkKing’s Field: The Ancient City Games from FromSoftware’s King’s Field series, or at least inspired by them (affectionately referred to as “Fieldies” in some corners of the internet), are a very...King’s Field: The Ancient City
Games from FromSoftware’s King’s Field series, or at least inspired by them (affectionately referred to as “Fieldies” in some corners of the internet), are a very interesting pill to swallow. They are often unwieldy and obtuse, even more so than the games FromSoftware would go on to develop (Elden Ring, Dark Souls 2 and its inferior siblings, and the like). There exists plenty of media that goes into what makes King’s Field games unique, so I won’t dive too deep into that here. For now, it suffices to say that these games are old-school first-person dungeon crawlers with a decent cult following.
I posted a while ago about working my way through the first two King’s Field entries, and I’m happy to report that I’ve “beaten” all of them. That is to say, I properly beat King’s Field (jp) and King’s Field II (jp), aka King’s Field outside of Japan, as well as King’s Field: the Ancient City for the PS2. I got about 50% of the way through King’s Field III (jp), aka King’s Field II outside of Japan (confused yet?) but had to call it quits because my emulator ISO seems to be corrupted :/ the first half of the game seemed excellent and was a great send-off to the PSX era of the series.
All of that said, upon booting up King’s Field: The Ancient City (TAC) for the first time, I immediately understood why the genre is experiencing a sort of resurgence, and why TAC is such a big influence. The game oozes atmosphere, the music is excellent, and there is so much of the current FromSoftware DNA that clearly got its start in this entry. There is still tons of the characteristic charm (read: obtuse and oft frustrating mechanics and design decisions) found in earlier entries, but a lot of the sharp edges have been filed away and it made for a really enjoyable experience.
I emulated all of these entries on my Steam Deck and I would highly recommend doing the same if you’re interested. Primarily because when you’re backtracking through the game, you can bump the emulation speed up to 150-200% for quicker traversal. I’m all about taking in the game at its intentionally slow pace, but when I’m backtracking to find a single item that may or may not exist several areas back, I lose my patience pretty quickly. At any rate, I’m glad to have finally immersed myself in the King’s Field universe.
Shadow Tower: Abyss
(note: I also emulated this on the Steam Deck, it’s a PS2 game like TAC)
While not directly tied to any of the King’s Field games, Shadow Tower: Abyss (StA) is the amalgam of everything FromSoftware learned while developing all of the KF entries. For the first time, you could control your character’s movement with two joysticks—what a concept. Every KF game before this used tank controls with a combination of shoulder buttons to strafe and change vertical look; it was pretty miserable.
In classic FromSoftware style, there are several new mechanics introduced in StA. Weapons were the biggest change by far, ending up somewhere a lot closer to some weird middle ground between a looter shooter and Breath of the Wild. Weapons in all of these games have durability, but it is purposefully incredibly low in Abyss. On the flip side, weapons drop from enemies somewhat frequently, and enemies have pretty quick respawn timers that are not associated with any sort of gameplay “trigger” like the eventual bonfires of the Souls universe. In other words, you’ll be coming across a lot of weapon drops in Abyss, but said weapons won’t last very long. On the flip side, you can repair weapons at special stations, at the cost of… your own HP. So if you find a weapon you like, there’s a constant dance of either spending your health to use it if you don’t mind the expense, or using worse weapons if you’re not in a good place to use the somewhat rare HP potions in this game (HP doesn’t refill at save points automatically). This mechanic is weird as hell, but in practice it works fine. If you like holding onto a single weapon to use it and you’re strapped for HP potions, I’d imagine this to feel pretty rough. I’ve not felt this pressure yet, though. I feel that the weapons are varied and effective enough that it’s worth trying new weapons as I find them and falling back to low-tier weapons that I don’t mind losing when I’m re-exploring areas or dealing with trash mobs.
There are two other “stations” associated with weapons, one as common as the HP->repair station, one unique to the hub of the game (as far as I can tell given my current progress). First are shops wherein you can use the in game currency to buy more weapons (and other equipment) or sell spares. Intact weapons give 2 of the currency, broken weapons give 1. Weapons range in price drastically but I’ve not seen any higher than the 20s. In other words, shops can’t be your primary source of weapons, but they are helpful to sell junk or pick up other items.
The final station will consume a weapon entirely, regardless of its condition, and refill your HP and MP. This is a great option if you start to accumulate poor weapons and break them over time, as you can repair your good gear with HP, then burn the junk to refill your health. The one catch: there exists only one of these stations and its unique to the hub world, so you can’t do this in the middle of clearing out a world.
All of this to say, Abyss tries some new things but it still feels like more King’s Field at its core, and that’s a good thing! Oh, it also has guns now. Did I mention the guns? It’s admittedly a very silly feeling to be creeping through what feels like a mystical medieval land, only to whip out a Glock and smoke a harpy with it. It works with the narrative but I won’t get into that now.
Anyway, that’s a lot of text to explain a single mechanic, but the point is, I’ve been enjoying it a lot and I highly recommend folks who enjoy the Dark Souls gameplay loop to try out any Fieldies they can get a hold of.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Shevanel Link ParentI totally get what you mean on the cozy / “autumnal” vibe of Opeth haha, I feel very similarly. I think those are some great callouts on the musicality points as well. I remember watching some BTS...I totally get what you mean on the cozy / “autumnal” vibe of Opeth haha, I feel very similarly. I think those are some great callouts on the musicality points as well. I remember watching some BTS videos leading up to Watershed’s release and the band was talking about using major tonality and clean vocals on top of blast beats. I hadn’t yet discovered atmoblack/blackgaze stuff yet so the variety within the orchestration was really mind-blowing to me at the time. And speaking of, to your point, I feel like their earlier stuff does scratch a similar itch to a lot of atmoblack from a “vibes” perspective, despite not really sounding anything like it.
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Comment on Obsidian Entertainment reportedly lays off a quarter of staff, cancels multiple projects, and begins work on new Fallout game in ~games
Shevanel Link/Noise, but last night I re-installed and played FO:NV for the first time in five years completely on a whim. What are the odds? Maybe I should get my PS4 out of storage and boot up Bloodborne… NV.../Noise, but last night I re-installed and played FO:NV for the first time in five years completely on a whim. What are the odds? Maybe I should get my PS4 out of storage and boot up Bloodborne…
NV still remains my favorite Fallout game, so while I’m saddened at the prospect of folks being pulled away from something about which they may have had passion, I’m also selfishly excited to see what they can do with the IP this time around.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Shevanel Link ParentI can appreciate all the various “seasons” of Opeth’s sounds, but man, anything from Watershed and earlier is, IMO, the peak of progressive(/prog-adjacent) metal. It’s insane what they were doing...I can appreciate all the various “seasons” of Opeth’s sounds, but man, anything from Watershed and earlier is, IMO, the peak of progressive(/prog-adjacent) metal. It’s insane what they were doing for what felt like decades before anyone else really caught up with their sound in earnest.
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Comment on What are your favorite custom games? in ~games
Shevanel Link ParentI’m jumping the gun mentioning this, because I’m not even done with the proof of concept yet, but I’m working on setting up a sort of self-contained DoomRunner configuration that has all of the...I’m jumping the gun mentioning this, because I’m not even done with the proof of concept yet, but I’m working on setting up a sort of self-contained DoomRunner configuration that has all of the Cacoward-winning DOOM mods preloaded and preconfigured so it all works “out of the box” with zero tinkering for the end user. If I can figure out a few OS-specific scripting tweaks, my hope is to be able to share it out with anyone interested. End goal would be that folks who own the requisite IWADs could download my installer package, plug a few file paths in, and have access to ~350 of the best WADs and WAD packs. It’s a niche that I’d love to get more people interested in!
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Comment on What are your favorite custom games? in ~games
Shevanel LinkI’m on mobile and can’t find the link to my old comment at the moment, but I’ve posted on Tildes before about the world of DOOM WADs, aka downloading free user-created maps and levels for a lot of...I’m on mobile and can’t find the link to my old comment at the moment, but I’ve posted on Tildes before about the world of DOOM WADs, aka downloading free user-created maps and levels for a lot of the old id2 engine games from the early-mid 90s. It requires a healthy bit of tinkering to get everything playing nicely, but there is a TON of content out there for free (if you own the original game files that are needed to run the mods). Some play just like old DOOM games, some might as well be entirely new games in and of themselves, like Ashes 2063 and Castlevania: Simon’s Destiny. If anyone is interested in learning more about how to do this, I’d be happy to help get them set up!
Ninja edit: Selaco is a modern (paid) DOOM WAD taken to the extreme - an entirely new game built off the same engine. The devs just chose to charge for this one (and I don’t blame them) vs. many other free offerings.
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Comment on What have you been listening to this week? in ~music
Shevanel Link ParentFrom one Casiopea fan to another, I feel obligated to evangelize Sam Greenfield just in case you haven’t heard him. Active composer / saxophonist who channels the Japanese fusion scene in a big...From one Casiopea fan to another, I feel obligated to evangelize Sam Greenfield just in case you haven’t heard him. Active composer / saxophonist who channels the Japanese fusion scene in a big way while still managing to do his own thing. Some of his stuff errs on the side of being tongue-in-cheek but most of his stuff is just legitimately hard hitting fusion-adjacent stuff. Really big fan! This entire LP feels like a love letter to that entire genre.
Ninja edit: album opener is probably the least fusion-sounding on the whole album, weirdly misleading way to start it. Tracks 2-7 sound like they could come straight out of a Casiopea LP.
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Comment on We're so back in ~tildes
Shevanel Link ParentShould’ve been more clear, @Sunbutt23 is already a member. But in case you ever want to pop by, here’s an invite link! It is VERY sleepy, mind. Like basically dead. But in this one instance it was...Should’ve been more clear, @Sunbutt23 is already a member. But in case you ever want to pop by, here’s an invite link!
It is VERY sleepy, mind. Like basically dead. But in this one instance it was helpful!
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Comment on We're so back in ~tildes
Shevanel Link ParentYou could have hopped over to our sleepy LFG server, a few of us checked in to see if we were experiencing the same thing :)You could have hopped over to our sleepy LFG server, a few of us checked in to see if we were experiencing the same thing :)
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Comment on Searching for neighbours on the indie web in ~tech
Shevanel Link ParentSaw your edit - thank you for putting this out there so folks could find each other, and for the kind words about the site!Saw your edit - thank you for putting this out there so folks could find each other, and for the kind words about the site!
I wonder if this might have been because of the really popular ad campaign they had with the cows holding crudely painted sandwich boards that said “EAT MOR CHIKIN” ?