Essence_of_Meh
@Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 1 week ago:
Race Driver: GRID
My racing career continues. I’m focusing on this rather than Stunt GP since I played that game quite a lot a year or two ago so there’s not much new to experience there. I’d rather go all in on the title I didn’t spend much time with for now. I finally decided against skipping 24 Hour Le Mans (took until I bought my own car until I had some fun with it) and played through two so far. Still not my favourite event but it’s not bad. What I did give me more enjoyment however were the open-wheel races - grip on those cars makes it super fun to just zip around the track. I might have to look into some F1 games in the future. One thing that stands out is something I already mentioned last week - limited content. I don’t need hundreds of tracks but when you start repeating them across regions within the first 18 races (each region consists of 3 tiers made of 6 events) then something is not right. I still like the game and have a great time but it won’t be replacing Colin McRae Rally 04 as my mainstay racing title.
Shadowrun: Dragonfall
I took a few month break after finishing this and Returns back to back and I’m starting to feel ready to go back in. I tried playing custom modules: Antumbra Saga and SNES Reboot. The first one started pretty alright, a simple task to infiltrate an office and place a box in specific location. The same mission then turned into a dungeon crawl of a magical cave located under said office, in the middle of a city and fighting through rooms of ghouls and spirits. I was hoping for a slow start with more choices about your approach but it didn’t deliver. I’ll be skipping this one for now unfortunately. SNES Reboot… I’d say it was a similar story, except it doesn’t even pretend to focus on non-combat gameplay. You’ll get “random” encounters on the very first map (technically second, since you start in a building) you travel through and based on the info text at the start of this campaign, fighting is pretty much the main thing in this game.
Not that I expected different considering this is just a remake of the ancient SNES title but I hoped for a little more diversity (dunno, perhaps there’s some later). So yeah, my return to Dragonfall was a bust. I’ll probably move on to Hong-Kong next since it’s the only one I haven’t played yet. I just wish there was more to look forward to (especially in terms of custom modules). Oh well, not every game can be Skyrim. - Submitted 1 week ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Comment on [Chapter] The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse - Ch. 41 1 week ago:
My first thought was the latter - controlled (or instructed) as a defence mechanism for this area. It would make sense considering how empty it is otherwise.
- Comment on [Chapter] Unexciting Date - Ch. 31 - Peas - MangaDex 1 week ago:
Two cute chapters in a row. What a feast!
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 13] 1 week ago:
My library migration slowly progresses. I’m sticking to a few series each week since going through all of them at once is a huge pain. Got some successes this time, which is nice though I’d rather not have to do it at all.
One of these successes is Villainesses Have More Fun. I mentioned it a few months ago, I think, but in short it’s one of the wish fulfilment manhwa series about… well, a villainess. It’s pretty fun - not one of my favourites but definitely on the more enjoyable side. It’s been a while since I read it due to already mentioned library issues so I got to read it with fresh perspective, I guess.
Other than that, I’m pretty much sticking with the stuff I post on the semi-regular basis as I’m a bit too busy to start new series at the moment. I’m not sure what I prefer: having a ton of free time to check all the cool stories or being active enough to not being able to.
- Comment on [DISC] The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All - Ch. 156 2 weeks ago:
This feels… unfinished? In a way that other, equally short, chapters usually don’t. I’m really curious what’s going on with this series. At least they’re talking already - seems like a lead up to Aya figuring out how to approach Mistuki. I’ll take it.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
I decided to go for a change of pace last week and jumped into 2 racing games I haven’t touched in a while: Stunt GP and Race Driver: Grid.
Stunt GP
It’s an RC car racer from 2001 developed by Team17 (guys behind Worms series). It’s a pretty simple game with surprisingly heavy(ish) controls - nothing too crazy but every time I get back to it there’s a second of “oh right, that’s how it feels” flashing through my mind. The game also has 20 or so cars specialising in various styles of driving and an upgrade system (when playing championship). It’s a neat little title which still feels and look great.
Race Driver: Grid
I started this one multiple times in the past but never really played for long - not because I didn’t enjoy it, it’s just that every time I touched it something else grabbed my attention soon after. This time I’m planning to stick around.
Getting used to normal racing was pretty straightforward, drifting on the other hand can still be a challenge (I dunno, might have something to do with playing on keyboard). It’s not bad or unreasonably hard but it’s definitely a bigger departure from other games I play (unlike normal driving). I have a few small gripes with this titles that don’t necessarily affect my enjoyment but are noticeable enough to warrant a mention. Those being: - Extremely short seasons - they consist of only 4 events, regardless of their length. - Number of tracks feels a little on the low side - maybe it’ll improve once I unlock everything but there’s been quite a bit of repetition already. - Overly aggressive opponents - I was hoping for more… sportsmanship in these races but these guys are a little too contact happy (I literally got bodied into a wall on a wide straight section of a race one time). - Very fast progression - I’m a weirdo who (almost always) prefers early game. Experience when you’re a nobody, surviving on scraps and luck. Having tons of money and sponsors thrown at you just for not sucking for a bit doesn’t feel right. Other than that? I love the presentation, both in terms of menus and art style (except of constant orange), and I really enjoy the gameplay. I wish vehicle customisation would be a little bit more involved but I realise that’s not the focus here so I’m not too unhappy about it. The game itself is great and that’s the important part.
Both of these titles feel quite different from my usual picks (Ridger Racer 2 for PSP and Colin McRae Rally 04) so I needed a little bit of time to adjust but after that I was ready to have some fun. Man, I love old racing games.
Finally, I got in the mood for Halo: Reach so I jumped into that for a bit. Probably won’t be playing the whole thing again this time but I’ll at least zoom through a few levels, trying to get some achievements. Oh, I also took the time to customise my spartan beyond gender and colour like before - finally feels more… “mine”.
- Comment on [DISC] A Cool Girl and a 12cm Promise - Ch. 56 - 58 2 weeks ago:
Good news: it’s a super sweet set of chapters.
Bad news: Left Field Scans is dropping the series.Still, it was a great read at least.
- Submitted 2 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on New open world parkour game Panline is so exact a reflection of Mirror's Edge it gives me vertigo 2 weeks ago:
As the other user said, it was a reboot. One that doubled down on the bad parts of the original and added some new poor ideas on top of it. Stuff like:
- Even worse story - plot of the first game wasn’t a masterpiece but it was serviceable. It also focused on a personal story rather than a huge threat like the sequel.
- More combat encounters - something that could’ve been completely skipped in the original (except for one boss fight, if I recall correctly?) now was forced whether you liked it or not. It also felt worse (to me).
- Locking movement options behind a skill tree - some of the most basic moves from the original game were unavailable for the sake of a worthless progression mechanic.
- Open world didn’t flow as well as the linear levels of the first game, it was also poorly divided into districts connected by a few specific routes you couldn’t avoid, making it feel even worse.
There’s probably more that I forgot at the moment but it was simply a bad sequel which didn’t know what made the first game good (in my opinion).
As for how this one is different? We’ll see when a public version becomes available. One thing that makes me hopeful is the complete lack of talk about combat on their store page. If they can focus on good movement mechanics and the actual delivery gameplay that in itself will be an improvement over Catalyst.
- Comment on New open world parkour game Panline is so exact a reflection of Mirror's Edge it gives me vertigo 2 weeks ago:
I love how unapologetically Mirror’s Edge it is and really hope it turns out well. I need my ME fix.
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 12] 2 weeks ago:
I’m becoming more and more confused about what the intended plan is for the post confession plot of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All. It really feels like the series failed to find its footing after the time skip and kind of flops around hoping for something that sticks.
I dunno, maybe it’s just me. I still like the series but it needs a new spark, preferably sooner rather than later.
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 0 comments
- Submitted 3 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 3 weeks ago:
I said it before but I man, the duel races in Ridge Racer 2 (PSP) are the most miserable experience I ever had playing a racing game - they are WAY over tuned. I really feel like there’s a middle ground between smoking the competition on lap 1 and spending most of the race watching your opponent at the edge of game’s draw distance due to them using a car which is faster, has better acceleration and starts the race with a boost. I like a good challenge but this ain’t it.
I finished the three duels required to unlock the EX tour series of events and that’s that, I’m not touching the remaining 4. Ever. I don’t need a 100% completion rate, not when some of the remaining content sucks the fun out of the whole experience. I’d rather have fun with the normal races instead and I’m extremely happy the EX series exist - I was actually worried I already cleared (almost) everything with the ending movie and credits unlocking halfway through PRO tour. I’m glad I was wrong.
Still love the game but boy was that rough at times.
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 11] 3 weeks ago:
After a few weeks of lazing around I’m finally starting my cleanup duty following the fall of Bato and MangaPark. I’ve been slowly migrating some of the series I followed on those sites though, like with every migration, not all of them are available or up to date in other places. I should really start downloading chapters for unread titles again.
- Submitted 4 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on Evangelion Accidentally Leaked Its New 30th Anniversary Anime – So Now It’s Releasing It for Free 4 weeks ago:
Here is the link to the official upload, no English subtitles unfortunately. It’s funny and kinda sweet.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 4 weeks ago:
I got my fill of Tokkyuu Shirei - Solbrain for now so I’m back to jumping between multiple other titles on my Deck at the moment.
The main focus is the return of my Ridge Racer fixation. I’m back to playing Ridge Racer 2 (PSP one) but I also tried Ridge Racer Type 4 and Ridge Racer 7. RRT4 still holds up rather well, it feels good to play and the presentation is top notch (especially its fantastic intro). Can’t say I like it more than RR2 (PSP) however a big part of that is the fact that the latter is simply a more complete package due to its content.
Can’t say much about RR7 as I only tried 2 races so far to see how it’ll run emulated. It runs but I’ve got some issues with RPCS3 not using all the power on my desktop which affects the performance. I’ll have to play it on my Steam Deck instead, I guess.The second series I’m playing right now is The Legend of Linkle: Breath of the Wild (BotW, just modded). I played it about a year or so ago but didn’t really feel it at the time and dropped it for other stuff. I now decided to start from scratch and with refreshed attitude instead. I’m having a bit more fun and feel less pressure to progress this time so there’s a chance I’ll be able to finish it - we’ll see how it goes. At the very least, I’d love a proper Zelda game with Linkle as a protagonist. Heck, I’d settle for a decent knockoff honestly.
- Submitted 5 weeks ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment
- Comment on [Chapter] Mane Mane Nichi Nichi - Ch. 56 - Weeb Central 5 weeks ago:
It’s just 2 panels, 30 chapters ago - pretty easy to miss/forget. Let’s hope we won’t have to wait this long for another appearance.
- Comment on [Chapter] Mane Mane Nichi Nichi - Ch. 56 - Weeb Central 5 weeks ago:
These two aren’t actually new, they appeared in chapter 26! Without names but there was a wrestling move in play so I’d say it evens out. I agree though, I want more of them.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 5 weeks ago:
Last week was rather busy so I didn’t have time to play much. I did however found a game I’ve been looking for for years now. A title, I pretty much gave up on ever finding again. This game is Tokkyuu Shirei: Solbrain for NES (some people might be more familiar with the version released in the west called Shatterhand).
So what is it? It’s a 2D action game, part platformer part beat 'em up, set in the future where you run through linear levels and beat bad guys. You can pick up Alpha/Beta icons to get a flying robot buddy whose attack patterns depend on the the combination of icons you got (you need 3 icons to spawn the robot). These buddies serve as your range attacks and allow you to fly up (it’s mostly useful for secrets and easier platforming, I believe).
All in all, gameplay here is kind of like a slower Mega Man focused on fist-fighting.Simple but fun game with pretty great art and music. I really lost any hope I’d find it again - looks like my good fortune finally decided to show up for once!
- Comment on FINAL FANTASY VII - now on GOG 5 weeks ago:
Hm, sounds good but not necessarily like a must-have for someone who enjoys the series more casually/from the sidelines rather than being an active part of the fandom. I’ll keep that in mind for the future, thanks.
- Comment on FINAL FANTASY VII - now on GOG 5 weeks ago:
Are there any projects you could suggest as worth checking out? I love mods but I never really thought about using them with FF7 - it’s just not a game that comes to mind when I think about doing a modded playthrough. Anything transformative enough to make it more than just FF7 but with QoL or nicer graphics?
- Comment on FINAL FANTASY VII - now on GOG 5 weeks ago:
Hmm, seems like sticking with emulating my copy might be good enough for now. I might jump into the other entries instead since I neither have nor played them. Thanks for the reply!
- Comment on FINAL FANTASY VII - now on GOG 5 weeks ago:
I have the PS1 version but this does look enticing for convenience’s sake. How does the modern PC release compare to the original one (besides the modern quality of life additions mentioned on the store page)?
- Comment on Manga Questions, Recommendations, and Discussion Thread [2026, Week 09] 5 weeks ago:
Last week was rather busy so I only managed to read through Travel Gal! A Cross-Japan Bike Travelog and doing so only made me more sad about the cancellation. I really enjoyed the story and I got to learn some things I didn’t know about “proper” biking travel so that in itself made it worth it. Too bad I won’t get to see the whole trip through, it was fun.
Was it the best thing ever? No. But it was well made and enjoyable adventure from start to (early) finish.
- Submitted 1 month ago to manga@ani.social | 1 comment