Playing some Tyr, believe it or not. Sci-fi Tank Game that is like a mix of Overwatch and WoT.

Also fired up my old copy of Freelancer.

I'm back on the Warframe grind, still working towards my original goal of playing 1999

The single-player (and lots more) update to Dune: Awakening released a few days ago, been wanting to try the game for a while but have no interest in multiplayer so had to wait for this. Started playing yesterday and it's really fun so far! It's certainly not a superb game but not bad either. Hopefully it stays interesting and fun.

I played through Portal for the first time and I found it kind of underwhelming. I can see why it was a big thing two decades ago, but as a new player today the experience doesn't really feel special.

I've been playing Dredge and Night in the Woods this week for some nice autumnal vibes. I also played Duck Detective: The Ghost of Glamping, and while it's not quite as good as The Secret Salami, I still enjoyed my time with it and I hope there are more games in the series to come.

Also, I plan to be impatient this week and get the new Control game. I know, blasphemy, but the heart uh wants what it wants.

Replaying A Hat in Time after about eight years. I decided to get some cheap DLC in place of more games during Steam's summer sale, and that includes A Hat in Time's Nyakuza Metro. With that, I thought it was worth a full replay of the game.

Still really liking the game. With more hindsight, I've realized the game's plot makes barely any sense. And it has an oddly dark sense of humour that contrasts with the game's otherwise kiddy presentation, even outside the spooky forest.

Brief off-topic aside: This recurring thread has been a bright spot, for me, in a sad Internet, this year. Thank you.

As for what I'm playing - mostly Palworld. The late game has allowed me to try to breed perfect pals while getting as deep as I like into farm management and interior decorating. It's been very fun. Well worth the sticker price.

Does revisiting Civ 4 (again), originally released in 2005, count?

I played through Axiom Verge again. I enjoyed it a lot more than the first time I played it, which was years ago.

My dead cells save disappeared so I'm working by my way through again

I already knew I didn't like soulslike combat because it's slow and nearly all attacks are annoyingly high commitment so it relies more on pattern recognition, strategy, and patience than quick reflexes and high-speed improvisation.

Playing Stranger of Paradise this week made me realize why even Nioh was a bridge too far for me: stamina bar.

I just can't help but see it as a made up problem: I'll give you an arbitrary limitation that sucks the fun out of combat… and a bunch of advanced mechanics to overcome it and give you your fun back.

I just play these games and I wonder why these combat designers hate me, and why am I not playing action games that actually let me have fun without passing some arbitrary rhythm test.

I know the answer is curiosity, but I often wonder if it's worth it.

It's not even a question of difficulty: no permutation of factors will make Nioh or Stranger of Paradise as difficult as fighting Gracious and Glorious on Infinite Climax in Bayonetta. It's gating fun behind arbitrary busy work… for reasons.

I've been playing through Metroid Prime 2. It's been pretty good, though keeping track of both the light and dark worlds is a pain at times. And now I've unlocked all the power ups I need to do a treasure hunt across the whole map for 9 more keys!

I played through Metroid Prime 1 a couple of years back, and I'm not sure if it's rose-tinted glasses but I seem to remember enjoying the map and bosses in that one slightly more.

I'm a few hours into Pragmata. I had to jump through a few hoops to get ray tracing working on Linux but the game looks great and has me interested in where it's going.

I've been playing Dread Templar.

It's an indie shooter with a Quake like aesthetic.

So this is technically a new release, but Pokemon Ghost Grey. I think it's the best romhack I've played in years. It's so creepy and really shows off how Pokemon's Gen III engine can really work for item-management survival horror. Lots of great psychological horror and dystopian themes. The protagonist looking intentionally different in his/her metagame character portrait vs. actual mirrors and photographs is, um, relatable 😅.

Oh, Summer is the best rival too.

I've been playing Valheim now that its finally 1.0. Lots of new stuff i dont remember from my last game ~3 years ago. I finished the Black Forest and I have been searching all over for Swamps. I only find these dinky ones with none of the interesting stuff in them. Its been kinda frustrating.

The new Bear armor is great for exploring on land. Boosts to stamina and speed.

Red Dead Redemption 2; just reached the Epilogue.

I started Burnout 3. Enjoying how definitely mid-aughts it is. Crashing is not always as much fun as I was led to believe, lol. I mean, it's gnarly at first, but after a while you just appreciate it as a fail state if you're in a race or time trial. The game includes a Need for Speed demo, and that demo really contrasts - making me appreciate how snappy, fun, and clean-looking BO3 is.

This next game just came out, so in some ways it doesn't qualify as patient. But at the same time, Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter is a remake of an older game I've wanted to play for a long time (and I've patiently waited since SC never got a physical release in my region before). Just got started, but it was immediately refreshing to pick back up right where the original First Chapter left off. Seeing the characters, hearing the music motifs, takes me back. In a way I miss the charm of the 2D, but the new coat of paint is overall quite seviceable.

Still working through Hitman achievements. Just 4 locations left to master I think, all on Hitman 2 maps. I’m not really sure what I’ll do when I’ve got these done. I’ll probably take a break from Hitman for a while so I don’t get too burned out, maybe go back to Elden Ring or something again. We’ll see.

Mafia 3. Struggled to get it working on my Steam Deck because of its controls, but now it works. The first few hours were great but now I’m scared the repetitive tasks are gonna appear..