Maybe I’m excited about SnowRunner or maybe it’s just a way for them to sell me the same game a third time, now with a palette swap

I knew what the risks were when Keighley was prodding the developer like “It’s not just Bandersnatch, right, it’s more interactive?” but, dammit, there should be nothing wrong with making an interactive movie. You can’t sell it more than $10 anyway, so spare yourself the trouble.

I was screaming bloody murder at the touch controls for the first 20 minutes, but they were used more sparingly afterwards. Still, the game would be just as enjoyable as a simple interactive movie — and those early scenes will dissuade me from replaying to uncover more story.

I bought Erica because the lead actress’s performance was clearly excellent in the trailer, but she is sadly not at all representative of the rest of the cast. The script doesn’t help (think direct-to-DVD teen paranormal thriller), nor does the 60fps video (wtf seriously?).

I mean, it’s putting me off the game regardless of whether he made her do it live or added it in post, but one case is definitely worse than the other. (Though I’m not certain which.)

Since last night I keep thinking about the Death Stranding: Mama video, and the likelihood of Kojima asking an animator to make Margaret Qualley grab her breasts after the fact.

Also, what kind of assholes are in charge of demoing the game?

Do not want?

A look into the community of budding crossword constructors

Of course I can’t mention Comanche without posting this very important context

Much memories! I don’t think I was very good at playing Comanche, and the game itself probably wasn’t fantastic either, but the visuals were so uniquely evocative

Magic: The Gathering Arena’s onboarding and tutorial are excellent. I don’t know that I have the courage to learn the intricacies of an entire 25-yo CCG but, hey, at least now I understand the basic rules of Magic.

So many clicks on the “Next stage” button, though 😣

Exploring a planet in No Man’s Sky VR feels amazing. On the other hand my framerate tanks as soon as I get into my starship, and the flying controls are awful. Give me automatic fast travel on- and off-planet and I could spend hours upon hours just walking around.

Outer Wilds (2019)

My biggest disappointment will remain in how many of the Ancient texts (especially in NG+) are eye-gougingly flagrant word-for-word translations from English. They look like they were written by people who have never seen a foreign language in their life.

I’ve just finished my second playthrough of Heaven’s Vault with new reasons to love the world-building, and new reasons to hate the game. I’m almost tempted to have a third go so I can dive deeper into the language, so I’ll hurry and uninstall it instead.

One of my favorite bits in Heaven’s Vault is (minor spoiler) when Aliya and Six end up in an ancient theater but neither of them has any concept of what that is.

Of course they had to screw it up on another moon 😒

I need some assurance that if I close The Book in Heaven’s Vault the game will not start me over from the beginning. I wish I could trust implicitly that it won’t, but that isn’t the kind of relationship we have.

I haven’t bought Eliza yet but I love this:

You hire a writer to give your puzzle games some flavor and you end up publishing visual novels 😁

The Valve Index’s IPD adjustment system is not joking around

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo 😭

To be clear I thoroughly enjoyed all twelve hours I’ve spent in Elsinore, and will recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone with an interest in interactive fiction. I’m not even sure they did anything wrong — I’m just puzzled by my own reaction.

For the past few days I’ve been trying to figure out why obtaining The Book in Elsinore completely took the wind out of my sails. Maybe it lifted the immersion curtain by emphasizing “collect all endings” instead of a personal narrative? I haven’t felt like playing again since 😕

Steam: An item from your wishlist is on sale!

Me: Uh why the fuck did I ever wishlist that game, though?