mohab
@mohab@piefed.social
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 3 days ago:
After 65 hours in Catherine: Classic, trying to beat Babel.
I love this game. It’s one of those games I’ll be revisiting and replaying forever.
Cut scenes still won’t play on Linux, but the game works great otherwise.
I wish they release Full Body on Steam at some point. Or a sister game with a gender-flipped protagonist.
I respect Persona and Arena Ultimax is one of my favorite games of all time, but Catherine is my favorite Atlus game and, IMO, their finest creation.
- Comment on Revised Steam Survey For December 2025 Puts Linux Gaming Marketshare At 3.58% 5 days ago:
I don’t own a Steam Deck (yet) but I retested nearly all of my library on Debian this year, and everything runs well enough now so I stopped dual booting.
I remember trying on Arch (Artix) 6 years ago and nearly everything was a pain… now only issue is anti-cheat, and I’m not married to Dragon Ball FighterZ online, so it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 6 days ago:
In action games, scoring the highest is typically not the priority as much as getting the rank, which happens once you pass a certain threshold predefined by the game. For example, if you need to score >5000 style points to get S in style, scoring >7000 won’t change the outcome because S is the highest rank. The result is: how you score higher than >5000 style points does not really matter, it is up to you. In a good action game, there typically is multiple tools you could use to get there depending on many factors, one of them is preference. How you start a combo, how you end it, or what you do in the middle, is up to you as long as the finally tally of the battle adds up to >5000 style points, and you stay under the time and damage taken ceiling.
What you end up getting is multiple people fighting the same boss, getting an S rank, even though they have different strategies/play styles.
Even if you choose to shoot for the highest combo score, attacks are typically assigned categories, and each category is assigned a score value. Kind of like damage level in fighting games. So, in theory, you could chain together a combo with different attacks and get the same score as long as they all fall in the same category.
Now, this is one way to approach those games, which is different from what you hinted at earlier: playing to create style showcases, or “COMBO MAD”, which can also be endlessly fun because the player actively chooses to throw away the rules of the game and make up their arbitrary rules for their own enjoyment. The games typically give you the tools to play them both ways, up to you.
In shmups, where grading is literal score chasing and more deterministic, flavor is typically added through (a) ship variety, (b) exploiting the game’s scoring mechanics when planning a route, and (3) player skill. This is why scores with different ships are often listed separately because, even though you’re playing the same game, using a different ship can heavily alter routing, including how the player exploits the game’s mechanics to get higher scores. It is the main reason people are still breaking records for games that came out decades ago: if everyone is playing exactly the same way, this wouldn’t be possible.
In theory, there may be only one optimal route for every shmup out there, but we’ll never know what that route is for as long as people are still playing the games and breaking records. Same goes for action games: there may be one optimal combo for every enemy in every game, but in reality people typically only pursue this kind of knowledge when they’re playing some kind of challenge run, or looking for tips to cheese the game if they’re achievement hunting.
I see what you mean with fighting games. My issue is: I whiff a -9 attack, you’re within range, you hit me with an attack that comes out in 5 frames, I am at 25% health, and I have no meter for a Roman Cancel: not only will your attack hit and do damage every time, it will be the same damage value, given I’m playing with the same character and you’re not A.B.A. going super sayian or you have some other damage modifier on.
To approach this from another angle, I get hit in a fighting game, it’s on me. I misread a play, or did something silly like not hit-confirming a -9 attack. I find this different from “dumb luck” when I tactically maneuver myself into a superior position, I have 99% hit chance, I miss, and they get a critical hit next killing my character off. That to me is… not ideal, haha.
I leave Faust to ElvenShadow, I’m not touching that crazy man.
I like DMC5 a lot, it’s just too much of a combo simulator to make it into my list of favorites. I like weaving in and out of defense and offense like in Bayonetta, Ninja Gaiden, and God Hand. I too prefer Hi-Fi Rush to DMC5, TBH. Such an awesome game! And mechanically deeper than most action game fans think, I have found. I watched some of my favorite action game YouTubers review it (Combat Overview and TheGamingBritShow) without covering some fun mechanics like parrying shields or dodge counters. Many people seem to think it’s all about the music beat gimmick, but it has a little more going for it than that. A replayable game, for sure.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 6 days ago:
You’re free to freestyle and get a lower score, but without RNG, there will be one way to play that always works.
Most score you on style as well, not just efficiency. And massive breadth and depth of combat interactions yield more than one way that works, not just one. Even for shmups, routing can vary depending on the player, their skill, and understanding of the game. It’s not a timid sandbox wherein only one way works.
If that counts as infinitely replayable, then so does any other game you enjoy.
Keyword is enjoy. I don’t see myself replaying DMC5 for as long as I’ve been playing some of my favorite games because I enjoy it less.
And for fighting games, that RNG is just substituted for your opponents’ decision making.
Hmm… how does that work? I hit my opponent, they take damage, no Xcom bullshit. I don’t see any RNG-like behavior in this interaction.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
Ayyy, I love linking to Gamebrary:
https://gamebrary.com/b/pUM4ceVfPR2l9K2qqLDN - Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
I’m just glad my favorite games don’t have any of this and are still infinitely replayable.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
God, yes… it’s literally an interactive medium… like, I AM the story, motherfuckers 😂
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
Holy shit, action games and giant bosses you can’t juggle… I love Bayonetta, but goddamn… Jeanne aside, some of the worst bosses in the genre.
Assaulf Spy was awesome for letting you juggle literally every boss in the game.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
I hate RNG so much 😂 I don’t get it. Life has too much RNG, I play video games because it’s a predominantly skill-based controlled environment.
It’s like picking up a piano and there’s a 35% chance F# is just F every time you play the damn note 😂
I guess it makes sense if you’re role playing and want your experience to mimic real life, which is why they’re mostly used in RPGs, but I also feel so immersed playing skill-based games without RNG, so I can’t assess its actual value.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
To clarify: by action games I’m specifically talking about Bayonetta, Devil May Cry, The Wonderful 101… etc. Among basic movement, combat mechanics, and weapon switching, they typically eat up the entire controller layout.
I don’t imagine Persona, for example, having any strong reason to utilize the sticks like that. Not sure why No Man’s Sky did that either; I haven’t played it, but it doesn’t look like a high-octane game.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
I thought of another one: shitty covers. OMG, The Surge? WTF is that Steam library cover? There are exceptions like Catherine: Classic, but most covers where the protagonist stares at the camera suck so much.
Specifically if it’s an action game: show the character in action, FFS. The Wonderful 101 has a great cover. So does Vanquish.
And when half the cover is the logo… just stop with that already. Or an atrocity like Scarlet Nexus… it’s just a cropped image… like Bandai couldn’t afford to commission a cover.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
Hmm… I think for action games it’s somewhat of a necessity because there are so many actions the character can take at any given point, so you kinda need to utilize every clickable button.
That said, I agree it never feels great. No matter how good the controller is, it always somehow feels wobbly, specifically after long-term use.
- Comment on Pet Peeves with Games? 1 week ago:
In 3rd-person games with a free moving camera, pressing the joystick not repositioning the camera behind my character. It’s so annoying in action games to have to manually reposition the camera while 5 enemies are happy to attack you from off screen.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 1 week ago:
Clip from my gameplay footage to give anyone interested some idea of what you can do in Wanted: Dead: https://video.hardlimit.com/w/k9q4sng5bEY67L46hBtzPX
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 1 week ago:
Wanted: Dead and I was taught a valuable lesson about action game reviews: if your review doesn’t come with gameplay footage, it’s effectively worthless.
I have no idea how most people played this game, but I watched enough negative reviews with dogshit footage to come to this conclusion.
Like no shit you don’t have enough bullets but you have i-frames on your rolls, dashes, counters, finishers, and metered attack because the game is clearly asking you to do more melee… and no shit the AI runs away from your grenades because the freaking game is asking you to use them to snuff out enemies hiding behind covers… but no, let’s just turtle behind a cover, shoot, and complain about bullets… I could go on. It’s ridiculous.
The game is awesome, and absolutely was not meant for a mainstream audience. If you liked Vanquish and Gungrave, I recommend Wanted: Dead.
- Comment on Microsoft Office has been renamed to “Microsoft 365 Copilot app” 1 week ago:
What does this even mean 😂 Capitalism breakdancing over the dead body of language at this point.
- Comment on How Are You Guys Handling This? 2 weeks ago:
I played +400 hours last year and most demanding game in my library has a GTX 1050 minimum requirement. There’s much more to gaming than yearly AAA releases.
- Comment on Arc raiders is a horrible game 2 weeks ago:
I’ve been trying that with fighting games and rollback netcode for years now. I still have hope it’ll get adopted eventually.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
It didn’t help my tolerance for turn-based combat and RNG is not very high.
Good to hear Hong Kong moved in another direction. The Shadowrun world is cool, so I may revisit at some point.
- Comment on Arc raiders is a horrible game 2 weeks ago:
Kinda odd Steam doesn’t have a PvPvE tag, TBH.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks 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.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
I’m replaying Devil May Cry 2… man, this game is putting me to sleep 😂 I don’t even know how to describe it… it’s like playing a pre-alpha build of a DMC game made by people forced to develop it at gunpoint. Always a surreal experience.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 2 weeks ago:
Game’s awesome. I won’t say the combat is the deepest, but I’ve seen some unfair criticisms from action game fans.
Like, it’s not exactly a combo simulator, but you can absolutely do touch-of-death combos on most enemies, and there are ways to work through shields quicker.
Game’s mechanically deeper than people most people think, I think. Definitely some replay value there.
- Comment on Dusting off the old PS2 2 weeks ago:
The birth of action games: Onimusha, God Hand, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, and many more.
My favorite underrated PS2 game is The Red Star—super fun beat’em up/twin stick shooter.
No better library of AA games.
- Comment on Do you preorder games? 3 weeks ago:
I don’t even order games 😂 Deep sale or no buy.
- Comment on Weekly Recommendations Thread: What are you playing this week? 3 weeks ago:
Scarlet Nexus
I was able to do some mildly fun stuff in it: https://video.hardlimit.com/w/nC1rdALiLqD5F4cxUhg26D
But I agree: it’s an odd blend that doesn’t exactly end up feeling like a satisfying action game or a satisfying RPG… and it’s too damn grindy… some parts are just corridors full of enemies with giant health bars over and over again.
I didn’t enjoy NieR either, but it’s a better action RPG than Scarlet Nexus, for sure.
- Comment on The Knightling Did Everything Right - It Still Struggled to Sell | Beyond the Pixels Podcast 3 weeks ago:
Nice. RPGs in particular seem to be having a good time recently. Lots of well-received games in the previous 2~3 years.
- Comment on The Knightling Did Everything Right - It Still Struggled to Sell | Beyond the Pixels Podcast 3 weeks ago:
But speaking for myself, I played 18 games that came out this year and easily left at least that many others behind just because there isn’t enough time to play through them all.
Impressive, what’s the genre breakdown on the 18 games you played?
- Comment on The Knightling Did Everything Right - It Still Struggled to Sell | Beyond the Pixels Podcast 3 weeks ago:
One reason could be that Steam sucks ass at recommending games and I have no idea how they still have not figured it out.
Since the sale started, half my homepage is games I ALREADY OWN or are already on my wishlist. It also keeps recommending me games from publishers I blocked. At any given point, 80~90% of my homepage is useless.
It’s almost as if there’s some kind of hidden setting stopping small games from showing up in my recommendations. If I don’t actively browse tags I’m interested or pay attention to communities outside of Steam, I miss out on a lot.
- Comment on Steam winter sale is live. What patient games are you picking up? 4 weeks ago:
I picked up Ikaruga. I can feel the input delay, but it’s still fun.