Wes's recent activity
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
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Comment on Is “green AI” even possible? in ~tech
Wes Link ParentArguably, most of the expensive processing (video decoding) is happening on the user's device. This allows them to distribute the work. At least in some communities, nuclear plants do charge...Netflix never had to build way more energy capacity available to run whatever it needed, let alone nuclear plants.
Arguably, most of the expensive processing (video decoding) is happening on the user's device. This allows them to distribute the work. At least in some communities, nuclear plants do charge user's smartphones.
OpenAI's work is entirely centralized, both for model training and chat inference. They accept all the power costs associated with that. Training will likely always be focused in data centers, but it seems plausible that inference will move to local use. New hardware made video decoding accessible to phones, and the same could be true of AI applications as well.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Wes Link ParentAppreciate the tips on Ender Lilies. I definitely wouldn't have thought to farm previous bosses for upgrade materials, but it sounds like it makes a big difference. Dark Souls 1 is also one of my...Appreciate the tips on Ender Lilies. I definitely wouldn't have thought to farm previous bosses for upgrade materials, but it sounds like it makes a big difference.
Dark Souls 1 is also one of my favourites. It may in fact be my favourite game. I never got into the PvP scene as you did, but I did complete a number of challenge runs. Since then, I've also spent a fair bit of time modding the game to add new content, challenge, or just to shake things up.
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Comment on Elite Dangerous discussion in ~games
Wes LinkI'm an on-again, off-again player. I have around 1,500 hours in-game, and have completed most of the grinds (engineering, reputation, guardian), so I mostly just try out new content as it becomes...I'm an on-again, off-again player. I have around 1,500 hours in-game, and have completed most of the grinds (engineering, reputation, guardian), so I mostly just try out new content as it becomes available.
I dropped the game for a few years at the release of Odyssey. That update tanked my performance, introduced some very buggy gameplay, and I was miffed that I never got credited for my pre-order items.
I finally came back for the showdown of cocijo and protection of Earth. It sort of reignited my passion for the game, and I played heavily for the next few months. Let me tell you, supercruise overdrive is a game changer
I'm now back to playing a little more casually, but I still participate in many of the community goals. I also recently completed a second trip to Colonia to finish pinning all my engineering blueprints.
My feelings are a little mixed on the current state of the game. I'm glad that Frontier is back to developing it, after they shifted focus to other properties for so many years. Colonization was a great update, and I'm glad that truckers can now create their own long-term goals.
I don't love that the game now includes pay-to-win elements. Being able to outright buy pre-engineered ships and even space stations just feels contrary to the original pitch of being a trailblazing upstart, working up from a Sidewinder to controlling a grand fleet. I know that's the realities of business, but it does feel like it cheapens the game.
As a whole, I feel things are in a better place now than they were five years ago. They lost a lot of their original dev team to attrition, but the new team focused on Elite seems to slowly be getting up to speed on the codebase, and are now making more substantial fixes and improvements. The "orbital lines" rendering bug was finally fixed in VR, and just this week the dumb Odyssey unit AI was improved. Hopefully soon they'll take a look at some of the anti-aliasing issues that have long plagued the game.
Elite continues to be my comfort game. I can always hop in to do a few missions, take down a pirate warlord, or work towards a community goal. The VR experience is bar none the most impressive sense of scale you can experience in a video game, and the community's dedication to creating custom tools and meta-narratives around the game is unmatched.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Wes Link ParentOh wow, I completely missed your Gothic 1 write-up. You sneakily edited it in to an existing comment! I'm glad to hear you were able to get it running with a little troubleshooting. It's kind of...Oh wow, I completely missed your Gothic 1 write-up. You sneakily edited it in to an existing comment!
I'm glad to hear you were able to get it running with a little troubleshooting. It's kind of funny how common ".ini fixes" were as a troubleshooting method for older titles. It still comes up when I get my triennial urge to play Skyrim and need to make a few performance tweaks, too.
I'd definitely be curious to hear your thoughts on how Gothic 1 compares to the remake in the future. I have high hopes for all the patient fans out there that have been waiting.
Thanks for joining in the event, and I hope you have a good time with all these classics.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Wes Link ParentI played Tails of Iron for my card as well, though I liked it a little more. Combat is decidedly heavy-feeling, which I can understand turning a lot of people off. Most modern soulslike games...I played Tails of Iron for my card as well, though I liked it a little more.
Combat is decidedly heavy-feeling, which I can understand turning a lot of people off. Most modern soulslike games focus on iframes, rapid dodges, and reactive gameplay.
For me, the slower combat of Tails of Iron reminded me of of Dark Souls 1, where it's more about reading the situation. You can't panic chug estus if you take a hit, as in later titles. You need to wait for an appropriate opening, balancing your spacing and stamina in the meantime to avoid a second hit.
I actually quite enjoy that more methodical approach to combat, so I found it appealing. But it took me a little while to adapt to the slower pace. The "Clubba" fight was basically my Asylum Demon, demanding I understand the flow of combat before moving on.
I do completely agree that gear is mostly just stat minmaxing, and adds little strategy. It's really just a matter of choosing your preferred weight breakpoint and optimizing around that.
Ender Lilies is still on my wishlist, but it sounds like something I'd enjoy as well. The art is gorgeous, at least in screenshots.
That is a shame it doesn't let you annotate the map. That feels like such an important feature in metroidvanias, especially those with expansive maps.
I know you played on PS5, but for my PC colleagues, Steam does now include a built-in Notes feature. It's certainly not as good as having built-in map annotations, but you can use it to record your current objectives, things to check back on later, etc. I find it especially helpful in metroidvanias, games where you balance many tasks (eg. Satisfactory), or those with long-term progression (eg. MMOs).
It looks like the Ender Lilies team have a new game out as well that looks quite promising. So that'll be one more for the eventual-backlog.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Conclusion and Recap in ~games
Wes LinkWow, what an event! The contributions are always great, but I feel like the bar was somehow raised even further with this one. There were so many utterly brilliant comments made by all of our...Wow, what an event! The contributions are always great, but I feel like the bar was somehow raised even further with this one. There were so many utterly brilliant comments made by all of our contributors. I loved reading all of your thoughts, impressions, personal anecdotes, and even backstory/development history of some games.
I failed to send in any highlights this month, since I was so focused on finishing my own task on time, so I'd like to offer a few shoutouts now.
- @J-Chiptunator, for some seriously impressive write-ups across a range of platforms.
- @JCPhoenix, for playing a ton of games, only some of which were detective-themed! The Let's Plays were great, and add so much richness to your first impressions.
- @Evie, for showing us the platonic ideal to strive towards.
- @dannydotcafe, a big welcome to a new face who nailed the assignment.
- @CannibalisticApple, for lulling us in with sweet stories of Animal Crossing and Katamari before converting us to a strange new religion.
- @kfwyre, for a non-golf blackout with some of the strangest classic titles and indie picks around. Thank you as always for emceeing these threads for us!
- @aphoenix, who snagged a blackout win while also leaving tons of replies/interaction. I really appreciate the added liveliness you bring.
There is of course more, but I'm trying not to embarass everyone! I promise I've read every single comment you folks have shared.
November was a crazy month for me. I played 32 new games, and some of them I even finished. I set out with the plan of doing rapid-fire game sessions and write-ups, but found I naturally migrated back into my overly-loquacious habits. Whereas in week 1 my writeups averaged 200 words per game, by week 4 they'd ballooned to well over 500. Whoops! Task failed successfully.
I think I'll set more reasonable goals for myself in the future, but I'm also super proud of making more than a dent in my backlog this month. Even better, I found a bunch of games I enjoyed and will get to continue playing.
I'll include the four cards I completed this month, in checklist format for easier reading.
My complete games list
Category Entry ✅ Quantity Back 4 Blood ✅ Threshold Pistol Whip ✅ Faith Prodeus ✅ Fight Rollerdrome ✅ Aesthetic Cyber Hook ✅ Courage Paper Birds ✅ Unlock UNLOVED ✅ Bright Proteus Category Entry ✅ I I Expect You To Die ✅ F We Were Here Expeditions: The FriendShip ✅ S Shipwreck ✅ P Pumpkin Jack ✅ K Katamari Damacy REROLL ✅ O Out There: Ω Edition ✅ V Venba ✅ Z Zenith MMO Category Entry ✅ Soulslike Tails of Iron ✅ God game Paper Beast ✅ ARPG Titan Quest ✅ Horror Doki Doki Literature Club! ✅ Driving/piloting Starsector ✅ Dungeon crawler Lunacid ✅ Cozy A Bird Story ✅ Shop keeper Moonlighter Category Entry ✅ Focuses on exploration Manifold Garden ✅ From a series you have never played GOD EATER 3 ✅ Known for its real-world drama Wuchang: Fallen Feathers ✅ Randomness determines your fate Golfie ✅ Same number of letters as your username Hoa ✅ From now-defunct dev studio Thief Gold ✅ From a studio you haven't heard of before Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter Reborn ✅ Has a time limit The Forgotten City Since my write-ups, I've now completed Manifold Garden, and put another three or four hours into Carnivores. I'll bag that T-Rex yet.
My pick of the month goes to Venba, which came as a complete surprise to me. It was a heartfelt story that really resonated, and gave me some cultural awareness that I really appreciated. I don't know that I'd ever have tried it if not for rolling the letter "V" by chance, but I'm glad I did. That's one thing I appreciate about the bingo card system -- it can turn us onto content that we'd never have experienced otherwise.
Other picks also left a lasting impression for me, including I Expect You To Die (superlative VR experience), A Bird Story (decidedly poignant), and Doki Doki Literature Club! (uniquely disquieting).
I plan to return to The Forgotten City next, where I'm excited to resume my investigation. Tails of Iron and Wuchang are also both waiting for me afterwards.
It's been an intense, yet fulfilling month, folks. Thanks for helping to make this event what it is. I'll see you all around the site, and for our next Backlog Burner in May!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentWoohoo, look at all that green! I swear, I'd never even heard of No One Lives Forever until a few months ago. I must have been Baader-Meinhof'd though, because it now seems that everyone is...Woohoo, look at all that green!
I swear, I'd never even heard of No One Lives Forever until a few months ago. I must have been Baader-Meinhof'd though, because it now seems that everyone is talking about it. It was the 25-year anniversary recently, so that may have fired up the fanbase.
I'm glad that PC preservationists have stepped in to make the game available. I don't always love using "abandonware" as a justification for piracy, but in this case, I think it's completely appropriate. If the publishers involved are so far removed that they don't even know if they own the game, then I'm not convinced they deserve to profit from it 25 years later.
I know from past threads that we're both waiting patiently for Agent 64, but I'm delighted to learn of another like-game in the meantime.
Nice working on getting in your blackout bingo, just under the wire.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentWell done on the golfing bingo! Not to mention crossing so many long-term games off your backlog. Those can feel the most satisfying to turn in. Between Eastward, Cassette Beasts, and Katamari,...Well done on the golfing bingo! Not to mention crossing so many long-term games off your backlog. Those can feel the most satisfying to turn in.
Between Eastward, Cassette Beasts, and Katamari, you shared a lot of overlap with other backloggers this event. I really enjoyed reading about games from multiple perspectives, so that was a lot of fun.
Catch you soon in the final recap thread!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentOh my god, you've gone off the rails, Kefir! Madness has descended and words no longer have any meaning. This reality is failing before our very eyes. Okay, but interesting pick. I had a quick...I bought new shoes ... and I was surprised at how comfortable they were. [marks game as Comfortable]
Oh my god, you've gone off the rails, Kefir! Madness has descended and words no longer have any meaning. This reality is failing before our very eyes.
Okay, but interesting pick. I had a quick look at the developer's page, and they've actually produced a handful of very competent looking indie games. It's a bit of a shame that none of them seem to have sold very well, but it's also gratifying to know they keep trying. Best of luck to you, Somepx!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentManifold Garden - What will you grow? A mind-bending, surrealist experience; Manifold Garden is a living Escher painting. Like a painting, the world is stunning to look at. The scenery seemingly...Manifold Garden - What will you grow?
A mind-bending, surrealist experience; Manifold Garden is a living Escher painting.
Like a painting, the world is stunning to look at. The scenery seemingly stretches on forever, daring you to jump. The minimalist architecture is punctuated by bold colours that draw the eye and signal puzzle design.
You might be reminded of another minimalist game, Antichamber. The influence is unmistakable, and they both make use of non-Euclidean spaces and screen wrapping to create impossible landscapes. However, where Antichamber is fundamentally a block manipulation game, Manifold Garden is all about directing gravity.
Players can interact with a nearby wall to make it their new floor. Each direction has an associated colour, which is the only way to really orient yourself. There is no canonical "up" here. Most objects are colour-coded too, and can only be manipulated when you're standing on a floor of a matching colour.
I think of the world like a hollow Rubik's Cube: you can stand on the inside of a coloured face and interact with objects of that colour. When you move to a different face, gravity flips as if you're rotating the cube.
I found myself getting more familiar with the constant reorientation as I played. Indeed, the most efficient way to move is often by flipping gravity and falling down a hallway rather than walking the distance. As a result, I imagine this game has some very impressive speedruns.
The puzzles have been well-designed so far. Most haven't been too difficult, but a few had me scratching my head. I appreciate that they require you to actually solve them, as you're unlikely to walk into a solution by accident. That's definitely the hallmark of great puzzle design.
As there's no tutorial, you learn the rules through experimentation. New mechanics are introduced as you progress which gradually increases complexity. From what I've seen, the problem space appears quite large.
I'm submitting this one under the category "Focuses on exploration", though mostly due to its exploration of mechanics rather than environs.
Manifold Garden is a unique, abstract puzzler that tickled my brain in just the right way. You might like it, too!
(: ¡unɟ ǝʌɐH
GOD EATER 3 - A dangerous morsel.
I went into this one completely blind. What the heck is a "God Eater"?
I would describe this one as Monster Hunter lite. It doesn't quite have the mechanical complexity of the MH series, but it's well above that of a typical hack'n slash.
For MH vets, the gameplay loop will feel familiar. You fight large monsters called Aragami using oversized weapons. Monsters drop parts, which you use to craft and upgrade your gear. Each weapon type has a distinct yet complex moveset.
I tried a handful of weapons and found I liked the responsiveness of the scythe. For ranged weapons, the shotgun seemed a good choice for fast damage. This was not easy to test, though, as the NPC allies were so overpowered they'd often solo the early-game monsters while I was still figuring out the controls.
The game is mission-based, with story advancing through cutscenes after each outing. It takes a while to get going, and you're stuck in tutorial mode for the first two hours or so. This is somewhat justified, as the game does throw a lot of mechanics at you.
One big difference from Monster Hunter is the art style. God Eater 3 is unabashedly anime. From the opening cinematic, the game hits you with a high-intensity animation that really gets the blood pumping.
I was generally impressed with the music, animations, and art style. Though being an anime game, the body proportions are also about what you'd expect.
The character creator was fairly limited, with the notable exception of the voice options. I was given a whopping 20 voices to choose from, and each one sounded great. It's a small thing, but I was honestly impressed.
One thing that didn't impress me was the new player experience. Before getting control over your character, you need to click through roughly 50 popups. They were mostly patch notes from previous versions of the game, but it really breaks the introduction's flow.
All in all, I enjoyed it. It scratches that monster-hunting itch in a completely new universe, and really picks up once you leave the tutorial. I expect to play more in the coming weeks.
This one is going under the category "From a series you've never played", because it's from a series I've never played. But who knows -- maybe I'll tackle the other installments some day.
Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter Reborn - Clever girl.
I remember playing Deer Hunter II on Windows 98. I was a kid at the time, and never very good at it. I'm not even sure I ever had a successful hunt, but I kept coming back. I'd set up my tree stand, cover myself in buck urine, and watch the treeline.
Looking back, it seems the late '90s were a golden era for hunting sims. 1998 saw the release of Deer Hunter, Cabela's Big Game Hunter, and today's focus, Carnivores.
Carnivores has gone through many iterations. The original game, developed by Action Forms, released in '98 and was followed by three sequels over the next few years. Later, mobile developer Tatem Games revived it for iOS and Android as Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter, and also released an HD version for the PS3.
The version I played, Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunter Reborn, came out in 2015 for PC. Developed by Digital Dreams Entertainment in partnership with Tatem Games, it's an enhanced version of the HD PS3 release.
Finally, Digital Dreams produced a Unity-based version titled Carnivores: Dinosaur Hunt in 2021. Unfortunately, this meant the previous version was delisted from Steam.
Carnivores has certainly been around. However, since I wasn't familiar with any of these studios, I feel comfortable slotting this under "From a studio you haven't heard of before".
So what does a 90s-PC-title–turned-mobile-game–turned-PC-game look like? Well, about what you'd expect: rudimentary gameplay, a UI with giant buttons, few graphical settings, and currencies displayed as bubbly gem and crown sprites.
I also really liked it.
All the positive memories I had with Deer Hunter II came flooding back to me as I tracked my prey. Sure, a stegosaurus is a pretty big deer, but the careful, methodical approach hunting requires just felt right. It was almost like I was camping out in a tree again, covered in urine. It was a great feeling.
The hunting gameplay is actually pretty solid, at least for the era. Sound and smell can alert dinosaurs to your presence, meaning you need to move slowly and stay downwind.
Your aim is pretty shaky after running, but you can steady it by holding your breath. Aim for the soft organs, usually in the forward belly region, for a clean kill.
To ethically hunt dinosaurs, one also needs to buy a license. This is one of the primary methods of progression, as higher-tier dinosaurs are worth more points.
Here's where I complain though. The balance in the point system still feels very much like a mobile game: unlocking guns, tools, and licenses is painfully slow. I don't know whether the developers simply removed all the pay-to-win features without rebalancing, or if it was even worse before. Either way, the current rates are glacial, and I'd happily triple them.
Still, this could make a very decent podcast- or audiobook-friendly game. It doesn't require a ton of attention - except when going in for the kill - and it's relatively low stakes. I had a good time with it, and expect to return to the hunt soon.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentGood rec on Roadwarden. I find the two-tone color palette really charming as well. They still utilize shading and other techniques, so the effect comes off as stylized yet detailed. I think I'm...Good rec on Roadwarden. I find the two-tone color palette really charming as well. They still utilize shading and other techniques, so the effect comes off as stylized yet detailed.
I think I'm already on my "third chance" with Noita. It's a game I want to like so badly, but it just doesn't click for me. I guess I need to watch some tutorials to figure out the wand building, because my experience basically echoes your own: death, death, death.
I still find their falling sand engine to be incredibly impressive, and I hope they continue to work with it, and maybe create a second game using the technology. Their wizard character would also feel right at home in a puzzle game that that employs different elements, or even a more traditional action RPG.
Ah, but knowing me, I'll probably give Noita another try yet. Fourth time's the charm?
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentI was at first surprised by the the steampunk theme in the menu, thinking it seemed unusual for a stealth game. I'd assumed it was just another example of 90s software being really into...I was at first surprised by the the steampunk theme in the menu, thinking it seemed unusual for a stealth game. I'd assumed it was just another example of 90s software being really into skeuomorphism. But as I played, I kept seeing gears and steam pumps everywhere, and eventually realized it was a huge part of the game world.
You're 100% right about the control presets. It seems there's a bunch of them made available by default. Whoops. Oh well, at least I learned the key functions well by manually going over each of them.
The Forgotten City is definitely one of my standouts from this event so far. Do check it out if you get the chance. I'm even willing to forgive you for the irony of forgetting it.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes (edited )Link ParentHey, if you found a game that you clicked with, that's just another success story, right? I'm glad you're enjoying DD2, especially after bouncing off it before. Thanks for the update as we near...Hey, if you found a game that you clicked with, that's just another success story, right? I'm glad you're enjoying DD2, especially after bouncing off it before.
Thanks for the update as we near the end of the event. There'll be
one more thread for the last few days of the month ("Week 5-ish"), and thena final wrap up thread on Dec 1st.edit: No Week 5-ish thread this month.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentGolfie - Slicing the Spire. How does "randomness determine your fate" in golf? By making it into a roguelike card game, of course! Each run of Golfie begins with a basic starter deck. These cards...Golfie - Slicing the Spire.
How does "randomness determine your fate" in golf? By making it into a roguelike card game, of course!
Each run of Golfie begins with a basic starter deck. These cards are crucial for play, as your shots are otherwise weak and ineffective. You can collect new cards by finding them in levels or purchasing them from vendors.
New cards often enable more complex interactions, like activating a jetpack or placing a ramp. It sounds good on paper, but each new addition makes it harder to draw the basic cards you actually need. A ramp is useless if you don't have the power to clear it.
I was hoping Golfie would put me into situations requiring wacky solutions like ramps and jetpacks. In reality, most experimentation with cards proved detrimental, and sticking to the basic deck was often the safest bet. Turning my ball to rubber or making it explode on contact just introduced too much unpredictability.
I feel that some method to mitigate the randomness beyond deck editing would be helpful. Allowing cards to carry over at the cost of energy, or increasing your baseline power through progression would make it less risky to experiment.
Another source of randomness is the procedurally generated holes. They're created on-demand as you choose a path along the overworld map. Each hole follows a theme, like beach or industrial, and may include modifiers like extra coins, depending on your route.
The holes do feel varied with features like slopes, water hazards, and coin pickups. That said, when compared to traditional, hand-designed golf courses, they start to feel a bit repetitive. Their procedural nature also occasionally produces awkward layouts, making the difficulty somewhat scattershot.
In one case, I found myself wedged in a seam at the edge of a map. There are no mulligans in this game, so my run ended there. In fact, most of my runs ended because of a single, difficult hole. This can be frustrating as it feels beyond the control of the player. At least in regular golf, you can just accept the max score for the hole and move on.
By my count, this is now the third golf game I've played for a Backlog Burner event. I enjoyed both Golf Club: Nostalgia and Golfing Over It with Alva Majo previously, but couldn't quite connect with this one. It's a clever idea and certainly delivers on its premise, though I found it almost too faithful to its roguelike brethren. The blending of genres didn't quite work for me.
Wuchang: Fallen Feathers - Fading beauty.
The Ming dynasty is faltering. Bandits roam the countryside, and rumours spread of a strange disease that sprouts feathers in the afflicted, driving them to violence.
This is the world you enter in Wuchang: Fallen Feathers. You wake in a cave, beset with feathers on your arm, and with no memory of who you are.
It's a unique setting for a soulslike set in 1600s China, and everything from the first steps onward will feel familiar to fans of the Souls series.
For me, it felt a bit like sliding on a form-fitting glove. The controls responded exactly as I expected, and the usual mechanics were all there: estus, bonfires, soul currency, and so on.
Wuchang also draws inspiration from Sekiro with a posture-breaking mechanic. Applying constant pressure with well-placed charged attacks will stagger opponents, allowing for massive strikes. This is important in boss fights, and rewards both aggression and knowledge of enemy patterns.
One departure from the Souls games is the massive skill tree, which governs everything from new abilities and combos to stat increases and estus flask upgrades. The menu feels a bit overloaded, but it likely allows for very specialized builds, especially at low levels.
I spent my skill points on spear abilities. I enjoyed the extra reach they provided, and the lower stamina costs made them more reliable in extended combat. There is also a parry feature that I haven't mastered the timing for yet, but I expect it will become a boon once I do.
The combat feels responsive and offers multiple approaches to each encounter. You have the usual light and heavy attacks, along with specialized weapon arts and swappable techniques, such as the aforementioned parry. Magic and consumable items can also be useful in a pinch.
One new feature is the last-second dodge, which grants a temporary buff that increases weapon skill damage. I found this easier to weave into combat than a traditional parry, and enjoyed the risk/reward it adds for daring players.
The combat is quite involved, and will take me more practice to feel confident with. Thankfully, an in-game guide covers each of the mechanics. Loading screen tips also offer helpful advice, like this gem of wisdom: "You lose health when attacked".
Up to now, I've been using Souls-specific terms like "estus flask" because they're familiar. Wuchang rebrands everything, and I had to pause when I first read "Access the Impetus Repository to convert Red Mercury into Essence". It really just means "spend your money to level up and unlock skills", but it takes a moment to parse. Thankfully, the classic "Door does not open from this side" is still there.
Beyond its mechanics, Wuchang is absolutely gorgeous to look at. Yes, your character is very pretty, and the outfits clearly show off the game's assets. But the environments themselves provide a refreshing contrast to the gothic fantasy common in soulslikes. The landscapes are lush, and the Chinese temples and shrines create a richly detailed world to explore.
Importantly, the world isn't purely fictional. Wuchang grounds itself in real-world history, and it's actually for that reason that I'm submitting this game for the category "Known for its real-world drama" -- though this will require a little context.
Wuchang takes place during the late Ming dynasty, a period of great hardship for the Han people. Marked by famine and financial collapse, there was widespread unrest and rebellion. Beijing itself was eventually taken over by rebel forces, culminating in the Chongzhen Emperor's suicide.
Faced with rebels on one side and advancing Manchu forces on the other, the Ming general Wu Sangui made a fateful decision: he allowed the Manchus to enter China to help crush the rebellion. While the plan succeeded, it also paved the way for the Manchus to consolidate power. Rather than restoring the Ming dynasty, they established a new dynasty, the Qing.
Over the following decades, the Qing used both military campaigns and political maneuvering to solidify their rule and subdue the remaining Ming loyalists. This was not a bloodless transition, and while there was eventually an integration of Han and Manchu populations, lingering resentments endured across generations.
As you can imagine, this remains a politically charged topic even today. Debate continues over whether the Qing were a legitimate continuation of the dynastic cycle, or an invading power against the Han people. The conflict sits at the intersection of personal identity, official narrative, and cultural memory.
By setting the game in this era, Wuchang wades into arguments that are long-standing and well-practiced. Its story features famous historical figures from the Ming side as both NPCs and bosses, requiring the player to defeat them to progress. This apparent one-sidedness has led some to accuse the developers of bias.
In an effort to ameliorate these concerns, the devs later patched the game so that certain characters no longer truly die, instead becoming "exhausted". This change triggered a second wave of controversy in both China and the West about censorship, particularly as the changes made some parts of the game easier and undercut key emotional moments.
It seemed like a no-win situation for the developers, and I feel bad for how harshly the game was review bombed in response. Some legitimate concerns about performance and a preorder bonus mixup also didn't help, though these were addressed in later patches.
I wouldn't normally have started a 30-hour game during this event, but the richness of this real-world history felt worth exploring, and my love of the Soulslike genre made it harder to resist.
I plan to set the game aside for now, and return to it after the Backlog Burner is over. Thankfully, the familiar gameplay will make it easy to pick up again, and I'm not yet deep into the story.
Wuchang is fun, fluid, mechanically satisfying, and steeped in history. It's worth checking out for any fans of the genre.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentBingooo!! I really enjoy the underwater theme, and it sounds like Subnautica nails that aesthetic. Outside of titles like Bioshock (entering the bathysphere), I really can't think of too many...Bingooo!!
I really enjoy the underwater theme, and it sounds like Subnautica nails that aesthetic. Outside of titles like Bioshock (entering the bathysphere), I really can't think of too many games that give you the sense of descending into the deep, dark beyond.
I played an interesting modpack for Minecraft a few years back that was "skyblock", except underwater, called Seablock. Similarly, in the "Programming/technical projects" thread, I just posted about an underwater Minecraft base I started recently, hoping to capture the same feel. We'll see how it turns out - I'll resume work on that come December.
I'm glad I finished on this one, because I'm probably going to spend a fair bit of time with it.
I can relate on this point. Through this month, I've started to accrue a list of games I'd like to go back and finish once the event is over. I'm now up to like five that I really enjoyed. On the one hand, it leaves me feeling a little flustered with options! But on the other, I'm glad to have a list of games I already know I'll enjoy and that are ready and waiting for me.
Plus, separating the wheat from the chaff is kind of the point of this exercise, right? I'm not just absolving guilt from impulse buys I made years ago!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentJCPhoenix is playing a detective game? I can't believe it! Shame you had to re-record your footage for Yangtze, but I appreciate the effort. The visual aesthetic is very nice on this one, and the...JCPhoenix is playing a detective game? I can't believe it!
Shame you had to re-record your footage for Yangtze, but I appreciate the effort. The visual aesthetic is very nice on this one, and the ability to draw around areas of interest really helps sell the illusion that you're driving the story. The history snippets are also fun.
I do think it's cool to see more international games coming to the West, and being made available on PC, even if the early ports are not as polished as we may hope for. It seems like developers are getting more used to the platform, and expected features and polish are slowly improving. But it's definitely not 100% yet, and I can relate to some frustration when there's localization bugs, or missing features like borderless fullscreen or Steam Cloud.
Chef RPG seems a good fit for the Life Sim category. It has lovely art too, and I like that you can choose your starting season. Not sure what was up with the text bug you kept running into. The cooking was fun... but maybe don't quit your day job.
I've heard people rave about the story in Until Then. It looks good. It's kind of hilarious that you can "like" others' social media posts, and then get called out on it. It definitely seems like the kind of game I'd want to completely immerse myself in. That's also true for Eastward, actually.
Well done on the 4x bingo, by the way! I'm still working towards mine.
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentAppreciate the history alongside the review. It sounds like a labour of love, and it's cool to see how the game has evolved (and then devolved) over time. I can see they're all really highly rated...Appreciate the history alongside the review. It sounds like a labour of love, and it's cool to see how the game has evolved (and then devolved) over time. I can see they're all really highly rated releases, too.
It seemed like for a few years there, demakes were really in vogue. Gang Garrison 2, Bloodborne PSX, and Portal N64 all come to mind. I love the trend.
There's something really satisfying about seeing modern games reinterpreted through older technologies. It's hard to imagine a game like Portal existing on the N64, but the project above shows it is possible. Some of the old school tricks needed are also entertaining, like performing fake reflections by cloning a player and positioning them behind a mirror.
Even some modern titles like Ion Fury are built using the old Build Engine, used for Duke Nukem 3D and others. It almost feels like devs are tired of the absurd complexity of modern engines, and long to get back to the simpler days. I sort of get it. They still require a ton of work, but it's gratifying to build something from the ground up, and not rely on shaders, plugins, and middleware for everything.
Hardware hacking remains very much alive today, and I'm glad.
Also, your category choice is just the kind of post hoc justification I needed in my life. You could've taken a shortcut and redirected from AAA back to gaming, but nope, we're taking a very necessary detour through the phone book first. Well done!
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Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentI thought Façade was a very neat game when it released. Most encounters ended the same way ("I think you should leave"), but it felt so novel at the time. I'd be curious to see a more fleshed out...I thought Façade was a very neat game when it released. Most encounters ended the same way ("I think you should leave"), but it felt so novel at the time. I'd be curious to see a more fleshed out game using modern NLP techniques, even just to see if it'd actually be fun, or just interesting.
I think I know what you mean about a game becoming less effective once you understand its mechanics. This touches a bit on "players optimizing the fun out of games", but sometimes, it's just that the game doesn't create a convincing enough smokescreen to make its mechanics feel integrated or believable. You start to focus on the smaller elements, and not engage with the game as a whole.
For example, if I discovered in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater that the best method to score points is to perform nothing but special tricks, that kind of takes away from all the other interesting trick types in the game. But I'm not some scrub who's not gonna get a high score, so you bet your butt I'll be hearing that special trick sound on repeat for the next 20 minutes.
Was this more fun, or did I just hyper-focus on the scoring mechanic?
Horror games are another good example. If you can understand a monster's AI, or predict its behavioral patterns, it ceases to be a monster. It's just a hazard that pathfinds to you by following specific rules. Learn to manipulate those rules, and that's when the game stops being scary.
Big props to Amnesia, by the way, for having an incomprehensibly-complex monster AI that cannot be easily predicted. Despite its age, it's still one of the most convincing horror games I've seen.
I'm glad to hear that Indiana Jones has restored your faith in the classic P&C. Crisis averted, and Indy saves the day, yet again.
By the way, you may need an extra line break after your closing
</summary>tag for the markdown to fully work. That's why your link is broken. It's a common issue. -
Comment on November 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 4 Discussion in ~games
Wes Link ParentThe Forgotten City - Reminding us all of the golden rule. Salve, friend. Let me tell you about a strange time and a stranger place. A place where sin isn't possible, and nothing bad ever happens....The Forgotten City - Reminding us all of the golden rule.
Salve, friend. Let me tell you about a strange time and a stranger place. A place where sin isn't possible, and nothing bad ever happens. A gilded age, if you will. Let me introduce you to The Forgotten City.
This game blew me away. I was immediately hooked, and felt five hours melt away before I knew it. I went to bed that night thinking about the world and its story. My only regret is playing this title so early in the week, since I needed to pull myself away to actually play other things.
I'm submitting this under the category "Has a time limit", though some may choose to quibble. It is time-loopy, so technically you have all the time you could ask for. However, there is a limited amount of time in each day to get things done, a la Majora's Mask, and I think that will be consequential in the end.
This title is interesting because it started life as a Skyrim mod. It was so good that they spun it out into a real, standalone game, built in Unreal 4.
Despite being remade from scratch, there's still clear influence from the original Skyrim mod. The physics feel similar, mechanics like quick-saving/loading are available, stealing is still there (though considerably more consequential in this game), and there's even a dev console enabled by default.
Unlike a lot of Skyrim mods though, this game is polished to the nines (or the Nine Divines). For example, everyone starts as a "Stranger" to you, and you learn their name by talking to them. Okay, that's common enough in games. But you can also learn a name if you overhear it being spoken, or seeing strong contextual clues. It's a small detail but I was impressed by how well that worked.
The game features something akin to a "class" system, letting you choose a perk to play with. I chose a backstory that put me on the lam, granting a 25% faster sprint speed. Listen, if you're ever given the option, never turn down more movement speed. More health is nice, but running right past the danger is even nicer. Never skip leg day.
The game's world takes place in a sunken Roman city, deep in a hidden valley. It's funny, I had just made a comment about Titan Quest being set in a unique locale, and now here we are again. Okay, admittedly Ancient Greece may predate the Roman empire by five centuries or so, but close enough, right?
The environments look great, and the statues dotting the landscape give me Piranesi vibes. The animations are smooth, and must be mocapped because the facial details look great. The voice over work is also really well done.
I opted to turn off the "hint whispers", because I'd like to get to the bottom of this mystery myself. Still, it feels like the statues are whispering to me... drawing me in closer... No, it must've been the wind.
Technically, the game feels great. It offered a full options menu, with my favourite feature ever, borderless fullscreen.
My one complaint was going to be that the camera zooms in when sprinting. I really dislike this effect, as it causes me motion sickness like nothing else. Thankfully, since they included a console, I could run
fov 90to override the zoom-in effect and lock my field of view.Suffice it to say, I'm looking forward to playing more. I already have a notepad with dozens of observations, and I'll be back to collect more soon.
Hoa - A puzzle-platformer in pastel.
Hoa is beautiful to look at, with soft landscapes and gentle piano tracks that set a relaxing atmosphere. For some, it could be the perfect way to unwind after a stressful day.
The gameplay, however, doesn't quite match the artistry. The platforming is simple and rarely challenging, and the puzzles are mostly perfunctory. I was ready to put the game down after just an hour, and nearly did. However, I decided instead to use the low-engagement gameplay as an opportunity to catch up on videos while playing, which turned out well. I finished the game in about 2.5 hours.
Even if I wasn't very engaged, I'm sure many would appreciate Hoa for what it is. I personally prefer more challenge, but the game clearly succeeds in creating a serene atmosphere, and the gameplay arguably suits it.
I'm submitting this under "Same number of letters as your username", though my options were fairly limited.
Thief Gold - Aged like fine wine, which might fetch a nice price...
I had to think about my options for the category "From now-defunct dev studio". When I came across a game from Looking Glass Studios, it felt right. They were a big name in the '90s and produced many landmark games, including Thief and System Shock. I'm glad to finally give one a try.
Thief is a classic title. Originally published as Thief: The Dark Project in 1998, it was upgraded to Thief Gold the next year, featuring three new missions and other enhancements.
"Gold" may be an appropriate term, as this game is now in its golden years. When booting it for the first time, I had the choice of playing at 640x480 or 800x600. Woof.
Thankfully, as is often the case, a community mod saved the day by patching the game for modern systems. I'm now running the game in glorious 4K thanks to the TFix mod. It applied a few other texture upgrades as well, but the biggest change was the internal update to the Dark Engine.
Another hint to the age was the default control scheme: it used WASD, except A/D rotated the camera instead of strafing. I spent some time reconfiguring all of the controls, then jumped into the tutorial.
My first impressions were positive. The tutorial steps you through the darkness and sound mechanics, and suggests that maybe you shouldn't wear stilettos on cobblestone if you want to avoid detection. Good advice! The game taught me how to use a bow and sword. It then admonished me for trying to use a bow against my sparring partner.
After that, I played through two missions. That might not sound like much, but it still took me about four hours to complete. I played on Hard, and completed all of the objectives for each mission. Admittedly, a lot of that time was spent trying to read the map. Some quick-saving/loading may have been involved towards the end, as I lost patience with resetting.
The stealth mechanics feel rewarding. The focus on light really makes you think about your positioning, and leads to some dynamic situations (eg. luring a guard to a dark area, or dousing a wall-mounted torch with a water arrow). Of course, there's always the faithful option of waiting for a guard to come around a corner, then smacking them with a billy. Knockouts are permanent, so you can find a nice dark spot for others to take a nap in.
I was surprised by the amount of world building that went into the Thief universe. Thematically, the technology is very steampunk, with cogs and pressure valves powering most devices. A few modern features, like security cameras, are also present, and they're bloody hard to see.
Cults and religion seem to drive the major powers in this game, and are backed by a magic that feels somewhat occult. Supernatural elements are also present, though I found them best to run past. Zombies are not interested in stealth tactics.
I streamed a mission for some friends, and they commented on how great and authentic the game looked. They assumed it was a modern game in a retro-style. Nope, it's just Thief! But I can understand the sentiment, because the game does look and play great. I might have even thought the same, had I not just spent 30 minutes installing patches and tweaking controls.
I can confirm that both are indeed awesome. Though since you're interested, let me just give a quick rundown on how to play mods safely.
First, DS1: PTDE has no servers whatsoever. You're free to mod it to your heart's content.
All the other games with active servers (except Sekiro) have a concept called softbanning. This is when your Steam account is flagged, and you're put in an online lobby with other "bad players". You want to avoid this, especially if you do PvP or wish to coop with others.
There are two things that will trigger a softban:
So to safely mod your game, you'll need to stay offline completely until the mod is uninstalled. I strongly suggest using Steam offline mode for this, rather than the game's "Go offline" feature, just to ensure it doesn't connect without your permission.
You'll also want to back up your original save. As a Linux user, I'm sure you can handle that. Just remember to move or delete your modded save afterwards.
There are tools to automate this process like ModEngine. I haven't personally used it, nor do I know which platforms it supports, but it may be an option for you. Larger overhauls like Archthrones and the Seamless Coop mod also handle this for you by using a custom online server and storing save data separately. So those are a lot easier to install.
Daughters of Ash, I believe, is a regular mod. It unpacks some modded game files which you install to the game's directory. So if you're playing the version for DS1 Remaster (which has online servers), you'll need to be careful to avoid going online. Or the PTDE version is also available, if you don't mind 30 FPS (or you can add dsfix).
Out of paranoia, I tend to use a second account with Family Sharing turned on. I also temporarily hide the game from my regular library so I don't accidentally launch it from there. This helps ensure that the modded files are only ever opened from the second account. As a bonus, you can play mods in coop this way. The second account will be flagged and put on the naughty server, but you can still matchmake and exchange data with other players. I've done synced randomizers in multiplayer this way.
When you've finished your playthrough, be sure to remove all the mod files and your old save. I tend to just nuke the whole directory, as uninstalling via Steam will not always remove everything.
That's everything you need to know about how softbans work. It's a little scary, but if you take the proper precautions, you can go nuts in modding these games.