whatchu playing now

the MUSIC for Obra Dinn is very very good btw
https://soundcloud.com/randall-klaver/sets/the-return-of-the-obra-dinn

baba is you was extremely satisfying up to a certain point, but i hit a wall where even when i had a pretty decent idea of how the puzzles might be solved the complexity of moves required became too tedious to be worth it. it's a shame because i loved most of it and it had a great soundtrack and atmosphere to hang out in.

still looking forward to obra dinn eventually

both of those games i respect a lot but didn't really have much fun playing tbh. obra dinn in particular has a great concept, game mechanic, visual style, etc. but ended up feeling like work

i still pop into baba is you occasionally, it's a good game to play if you've only got 10-15 minutes

Observation seemed so completely like my jam but it ended up so tedious :(

I can see where obra dinn would feel like work if you came back to it a few times. It's a really complex problem and relearning all the pieces would be a bummer. Doing it in one powerplaythrough felt like high sleuthing.

did anyone else end up trying Trails Lonely Mountains: Downhill?

I have been fairly addicted to it since picking it up a few days ago. I just unlocked the third mountain last night, which is a desert themed one, and it is maybe the best yet.

the control takes a while to get used to, and i've seen them criticized a bit online, but to me they're the best part of the game. if anyone gives it a shot, be sure to try the alternate control scheme, rather than the default.

yeah i've already given it my blessing on here i think

i got it. after about 15 mins of not really vibing to it i'm all in. the strategy appears to be to ace each section. so if you feel you're a bit slow in one section you should deliberately crash in order to try again. and by 'a bit slow' i basically mean not going hell for leather on any short cut you can find. it encourages you to be insane, which i is pretty awesome.

i've been planning on checking it out but i'm juggling too many games rn to buy it atm

the strategy appears to be to ace each section. so if you feel you're a bit slow in one section you should deliberately crash in order to try again.

yeah, the gameplay loop of it is really strange. for all the challenges that involve the best time, you can re-do each section as many times as you want to try to figure out the fastest way to complete it. luckily, it has a super meatboy/celeste style "instant restart" every time you crash, so as soon as you screw up, you're back at it again.

but then for the "fewest crashes" challenges, you're taking your sweet ass time on each section. i find these to be the least fun, so far.

but the most fun of all (imo) are the ones where you have to make it all the way down the mountain without crashing a single time, while also getting the best time, because it's a mix of taking the crazy shortcuts so you can get a top time while trying not to be too risky so you can actually get to the bottom. very intense!

tracer which control scheme do you use - default or the alternate scheme?

but then for the "fewest crashes" challenges, you're taking your sweet ass time on each section. i find these to be the least fun, so far.

actually, i want to revise that. it's still fun, and it's definitely way more relaxing and chill. i guess i just really find the timed challenges to be thrilling and compelling

i use the “screen-based” setting which i think means that the stick is mapped absolutely to the view you’re seeing. the other one is relative to the rider in the bike, so absolute left on the stick will turn him left if he’s facing away from you but right if he’s facing toward you.

Observation seemed so completely like my jam but it ended up so tedious :(

That's how I felt too. The 'mind probe' sections were overly long and just boring to me.

but I'm back to farming sim 17 and just loving the relaxation that comes with mowing grass.

ended up feeling like work

― na (NA), Wednesday, May 20, 2020 9:53 AM (yesterday)

All video games are like work.

We’ve been playing a bit of Lonely Mountains. It’s good! What a nice thing.

I'm a fan of Lonely Mountains. I need to pick it back up.

alright, i give up; I'll get it now.

most games involve work, it’s not the same as feeling like work

I picked up Inside today on PS4. Like 7-8 bucks right now.

Really great. I loved Limbo when I played it many years ago but had this unreasonable persuasion that I wouldn’t really dig this sorta thing in 2020. Very wrong. Beautiful atmosphere and design and does a hell of a lot with simple mechanics. Totally transporting.

There’s a deal where you can get Limbo and Inside as a package for under 10 dollars right now and I recommend grabbing that if you haven’t played them.

Grabbed the bundle!

lonely mountains is fun but FRUSTRATING, lots and lots and lots of crunching deaths

hakuna matata

splatoon 2 is incredible - would never have put any money on nintendo developing a shooter that's as well balanced and rich as this. still suffers from some kooky, classic nintendo design decisions (can't change aiming sensitivity mid-match, can't change weapon types readily, can't quit out a lobby easy etc) but all told it's a minor miracle

enjoyed the splatfest. not sure why they can't just re-run old splatfests in perpetuity

ok i got lonely mountains. i started playing the beginner mode where you're untimed and it took me like 30 minutes to finally get to the finish line and i crashed 100 times approximately, so i was like "this is fun but i'm so bad at it, i'm never going to be able to beat the timed modes." then i started the easiest time mode and was immediately in a groove, cruising down the mountain, only crashed a couple of times, and beat the 3-minute mark on my second try. it was so satisfying. i love how the untimed mode sets you up to get the feel of each path so when you move into timed mode it's already starting to get engraved in your brain. i haven't even really played around with shortcuts yet. i suck at action games so i don't know how deep i'll get into it but i'm enjoying it so far.

we've had splatoon for a couple of years and i've barely played it (it's mostly my kid's game). someday i should get into it.

just finished disco elysium. really cool game imo. took about 15 hrs. well worth a playthrough. excited for the teased sequel at the conclusion.

now i'm trying to decide whether to jump right into tyranny or take a break with a different genre first... been thinking about playing hand of fate 2 on the switch. hmmmm.

I find taking a break works best. Isometric fatigue is a real thing ime.

Isometric Fatigue Induced by Different Levels of Rhythmic Exercise

Precisely!

are you guys playing Lonely Mountains on PC or Switch? Is either version better?

PC here

switch version sounds kinda rough performance wise, as small budget 3D games can be on there

ps4 here

As barcode likes to say, PCs are for spreadsheets

spreadsheets of all the indie games i own on PC because of bundles

idk whether to post this here or find a podcast thread with who? weekly in it but the livery painters in GT are absolute maniacs, respect

https://www.gran-turismo.com/us/gtsport/user/profile/1056024/gallery/carLivery/livery/1056024/1/7422569986430862345

Been plowing through my Mac Steam backlog partially because... eventually i'll give in and upgrade the OS to 64-bit. Maybe for Apple Arcade...

playing Hypnospace Outlaw, this is overwhelming and amazing

just stumbled onto this, not bought or played yet, looks ace as heck. Want.

i finally got around to doki doki literature club and i was sort of underwhelmed

like i thought the narrator / protagonist was going to be implicated in the weirdness; when anime harem girl #4 SPOILERS and SPOILERS the other girls' SPOILERS and so on, her complaint doesn't ever target the weird privileged position that the player's character has by virtue of the genre. rather all of her anger is directed at the other girls. seemed a missed trick. (if it felt more deliberate i would say that's an interestingly dark decision, but it doesn't feel v deliberate at all ...)

yeah its not very good its just a dumb gimmick vn that blew up because it was free and written in english

I tried it. I didn't get very far. It seemed like 90% "bad generic vn" and 10% "genre commentary".

lol you inspired me to finally play Doki Doki. thumbs up, though i can't say i "enjoyed" it, I appreciate how meta and absurd it was, though it took maybe an hour of totally generic VN gameplay to actually GET to that point, once you get on the rollercoaster it's pretty clever.
i think the ending you speak of, thomp, is pretty deliberate. the final letter screen sorta confirms it (to me)

ha maybe i should have said ‘artless’ rather than deliberate. the implied player is left totally off the hook in a way i am not keen on, and the way the hour of generic VN plays out didn’t seem like the writer had really grappled enough with that. i dunno. all the glitchy stuff is fantastic tho, i dug that.

wish the game didn’t hit you over the head with the solution to the final puzzle. i was feeling pretty clever for having got there myself a long time previously. maybe that’s why I’m so against it.

the borderlands and bioshocks look good on switch. x com not so much

finally realized about NES/SNES via Switch Online, so I'm playing Super Metroid for the first time.

holy shit

I started Hypnospace but kinda lost interest early. Does it change or is it mostly the same after the first couple hours?

i dunno how far you got but it definitely escalates. if you're not into the whole vibe after the first few assignments though then i don't really think there's a point at which you'll suddenly like it