Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week?
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 days agoYeah I got it on the summer sale because it was 90% off and I was on a Metroidvania/Soulslike-kick after Mandragora. Honestly, had I known how much platforming it had I wouldn’t have bought it even for a dollar. I’m not really a platformer guy, I’ve avoided Hollow Knight for a reason (also I’m not a god gamer and from what I understand HK is impossibly difficult).
Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree on the other hand I had an absolute blast with. I love character progression and customisation and creating a build from the PoE-esque skill tree tickled my brain just right. I’m honestly torn between NG+ and doing a second playthrough with a different playstyle/build.
It also had a better balance of gameplay for my tastes than Blasphemous: the bosses were more fun and the platforming was much less frustrating. Being able to teleport to any “bonfire” from anywhere through the map was also so nice. I like when a game isn’t deliberately wasting your time.
AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Well said.
Also, PoE is a game that I have not visited in almost a decade. How is it now? When I played it last, it felt like Diablo 2 but with very little explicit story to experience (it had lore that one could discover). I gave up on the game after a few days since without a proper story, the grind got boring very quickly.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 days ago
Oh, I haven’t played PoE in about that long too, I think. I used to play the temporary Hardcore leagues back when it was new, but eventually the feature creep started to get to me. Which also meant that getting back into it later felt like such a daunting task I never did. And then by the time PoE2 came out last year I was kind of over the Diablo-style ARPGs
Yeah, I couldn’t tell you what the story was either beyond being exiled on an island. I also have felt that in my older age I’m gravitating more towards medium-length games with a proper story that you can finish and put away, as opposed to the endless MMOs and grindy ARPGs I enjoyed in my youth.
AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world 2 days ago
You could not have captured it better.
I am glad we had this conversation. Please do recommend me some more games. if you do not mind.
I was on a long break from gaming (almost a year) due to life, and plan to resume weekend gaming soon. For the same reason, I have been scouting these communities and threads for recommendations.
As of now, I zeroed down on the Mass Effect trilogy on the Steam Deck but I am also considering a second play through of Ghosts of Tsushima. I would prefer a light(er) game which is easy to get into and allow me to take breaks as I don’t think I will be able to pull off hour long sessions initially.
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 2 days ago
For another indie game you might not have heard about Skald: Against the Black Priory was a surprise hit with me when I played it earlier this year. Cool story and world building, very concise and conscious of its budget limits so smaller in scope, probably a 16-20h game with no filler and no grinding. I liked it a lot, and it should play great on the Steam Deck too. Sort of a tribute to retro CRPGs but without the clunk of those old games. Combat was simple but fun, not overly complex. Beautiful pixel art, especially the splash screens.
I am way less high on Ghost of Tsushima than most people. I would never even consider a second playthrough. The game is way too long for what it is, which is essentially just a more polished garden variety Ubisoft open world game. There is not enough variety in it to sustain a what - 60h playthrough? The quest design isn’t interesting or varied enough and most importantly: the writing isn’t varied enough. You can’t have 60 hours of dialogue delivered in only a stoic, dour monotone. 15 minutes of Kenji spread over a handful of moments isn’t enough to break it up. Anyway, rant over.
Okay what else… Well, Blue Prince came out this year and is a contender for Indie of the Year - maybe even a potential Game of the Year nomination. I liked it a lot, a puzzle roguelite is an interesting concept and if you like note taking and screenshotting and escape room type puzzles you’ll have a good time with I think.
Otherwise I won’t be the first you see of this if you’ve been scouring these threads, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is almost a shoe-in for game of the year and the hype is most certainly deserved. Any gamer should do themselves a favour and experience it, not least to be able to participate in the zeitgeist.