Sorry for the late post, I moved this week and it’s been pretty hectic. I just realized now that I forgot to make a post on Wednesday.
Mirrors Edge from 2008
Forgot how cool the visual aesthetic in this game is. I feel like it should get a remaster but Im guessing it didn’t sell well enough, could make great use of the ps5 controller.
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 4 days ago
I think posting can wait when set against real life (still, nice to have the thread), hope things went well.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
I finished the game. As a whole it’s a better experience than the previous title, with slightly more interesting writing (both are great), better balance and an expanded format of acting as a shadowrunner. There’s only one issue that really affected my enjoyment throughout and that’s the amount of large combat scenarios (waves or rooms with 10+ enemies attacking at the same time). They weren’t a majority thankfully, but they were common enough to get a little tiring, to say the least. I like Shadowrun in its small scale and more personal form, anything big (important jobs with tons of enemies, epic stakes) and I lose interest pretty quickly. I don’t know why games feel the need to end with saving the world or equally important scenarios but it’s the most boring direction a story can go for me at this point. Dragonfall did manage to put a reasonably interesting spin on that at least and I think it did it slightly better than Returns so kudos for that at least. I loved the side character story arcs - small, personal, some more tragic, other ending happily. Advancing them after every run was one of my favourite parts of the game. I wish such mundane and unimportant story beats played a bigger part in RPGs in general. After finishing two games I think I’m ready to say I really like this series, WAY MORE than I ever expected to. I had some reservations initially, both due to the setting (not because the idea is bad, I just wasn’t feeling it) and jumping in after a long break from isometric RPGs but these games managed to win me over.
I just wish they had more unofficial content. All I have left is Hong-Kong (with its DLC campaign) and 2 user campaigns for Dragonfall (one of them being a remake of the SNES Shadowrun) - once that’s done I’m out of modules. Cant’s say I’m looking forward to that moment.
A.W.O.L.
It’s an indie tactical(ish) FPS made in EDuke32 engine. It has decently feeling and sounding weapons with really nice sprite work, nine levels (of varying quality) and unique hand drawn cutscenes. Game aims for a more grounded approach, with relatively low health, reloading, aim-down-sights mechanic and 4 weapon limit. Oh, there’s also localised damage system for enemies (well… head shots), simple squad mechanic (with voice acting for combat barks!) and a stealth system. Enemies are rather brain dead and have trouble aiming when approached from slightly elevated position - they can still tear through your health if you’re not careful though. Levels are a mixed bag, some parts look pretty good, some are a bit undercooked (simple design, broken lighting on certain models, occasional lack of skybox etc). Heck, one of them might cause some Max Payne’s nightmare level related PTSD flare ups due to its design and pixel perfect platforming. On a more positive note, various map elements have pretty cool damage effects, you can really see the your handiwork after more chaotic encounters. Outside cutscenes some story segments are displayed as dialogue boxes at the bottom of the screen. Unfortunately, these disappear pretty quickly which paired with their tendency to show up in the middle of the action make them easy to miss. It might not be the best story ever but it would be nice to have a chance to enjoy it. It’s a neat if amateurish project but it’s fun enough way to spend 3-4 hours with. If anyone’s curious about the game it’s free on Steam.
2025 Recap
It’s the final thread of the year so I thought I’d write a short recap. I managed to finish 16 games (that I properly remember) last year, 9 of which were bought this year - I was thinking this kinda puts a dent in the idea of backlog clearing but regardless of their tenure on my “to play” list, the end result is still better than the last few years combined. Backlog is shrinking, if only a little. Anyway, here are the games I finished in 2025: - A.W.O.L. - Ace Combat 7 - Ace Combat Zero - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex - Halo 1-4, ODST & Reach - Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded - Project Wingman + Frontline 59 DLC - Sam & Max Hit the Road - Shadowrun Returns - Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Umurangi Generation + DLC There were also other things like visual novels (if you’re interested in those feel free to join us in the !visualnovels@ani.social community) and some smaller indie titles whose names escape me at the moment. All in all a pretty decent number, I’d say. Can I beat it next year? Probably not but I’ll give it a shot. There are still a lot of titles waiting for their turn so even this pace means a few years of work just to get through everything. I’ll be happy as long as I can finish the year with a slightly shorter backlog than I started it with.
BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 4 days ago
Nice recap! And thanks for the well wishes. It was a pretty rough move, lots of drama with the previous tenants, but it’s over now and we’re settling in. The cats were very stressed out, which stressed me out, but they love it here now, so I’m happy. My wife seems much happier now too, which makes me happy as well. My daughter is too young to understand what’s going on (still just a baby) so she was happy the whole time, which is really the only thing that kept my wife and I grounded. All in all, super stressful couple of days, but now we’re both very happy.
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 3 days ago
All’s well that ends well then. Congrats on the move!
mohab@piefed.social 4 days ago
Yeah, I couldn’t finish Dragonfall because of combat fatigue. Returns was nice though.
IIRC, I think Returns, Persona 1, and South Park: The Stick of Truth are the only turn-based RPGs I actually beat.
Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 3 days ago
My problem wasn’t that serious (I enjoyed the combat and only dislike the large battles) but I can see how it can be a run killer. I’m not sure if that’s of any help but I saw mentions that Hong Kong has more reading than the two previous titles, I’m definitely looking forward to that.