Aja on 14/7/2025 at 15:32

---

Something feels off to me about Indiana Jones, and I don't quite know how to describe it. It's like they made 90 percent of an amazing game but then forgot to give you an impetus to actually do anything. It plays well, it looks and sounds great, but I find myself having to convince myself to play it, and that's never a good sign when so many wonderful games have me excited to jump back in when I'm away. I wish the maps had been far less open and more directed, linear levels because aimless wandering is kind of mainly what you do until you get to the tombs, which are linear but also pretty boring. I'm on Sukhothai (and have been for months) and have not completed all of the side quests in the previous missions, and while part of me wants to do it for completionist's sake, I'm not sure I actually will. I keep hoping there'll be a certain mood in which I'm able to fully enjoy this game, but I haven't felt it yet. If it hadn't cost $90, I'd probably cut my losses.

Thirith on 15/7/2025 at 06:17

---

I remember getting AC Syndicate very shortly after a week in London, and it was pretty cool to take some of the same walks that I'd taken just before, just with more stabbing. I could also imagine that it's easier to shake the uncanny valley feeling you'd get with a more present-day London setting. All in all, Syndicate is probably the Assassin's Creed sweet spot for me, in terms of size, scope and setting. Though you might find the Mary Poppins-ness of it quite grating, Malf.

EvaUnit02 on 19/7/2025 at 09:43

---

Most AAA games today: use yellow paint to show braindead people where to go.
Robocop Unfinished Business: uses yellow paint to highlight brutal environmental takedown opportunities!

Incredible game by chad Poles. Buy it today! (P.S. one of the few devs who knows how to actually optimise UE5!)

[video=youtube;0A461DomB1c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A461DomB1c[/video]

Thirith on 23/7/2025 at 07:58

---

I'm currently playing Spider-Man (the first one - I'd previously played it on PS4, a long time ago), and I totally agree with Sulphur's assessment. The thing is, this isn't deep, but it's exactly the right kind of shallow for certain phases when I don't have the energy, the time or even the need to play something more substantial. In abstract terms, it does a lot that Ubisoft is criticised for (also by me) - but compared e.g. to the Assassin's Creed games, the core gameplay loop is more enjoyable. In this game, I can easily look for a collectible or two, clear out an enemy base, take photos of a couple of landmarks and do a mission, all in half an hour: this is a game where the lack of friction works, because each individual activity is shallow but fun and quickly done, where with Assassin's Creed doing the same kind of activity takes longer, is generally less interesting (in no small part because the writing is worse and there's much less of a sense of personality), and the rewards are worse. In Spider-Man, my half-hour of playing might get me an upgrade to a gadget that makes itself felt in combat plus a new suit that looks fun and opens up a new ability; in Assassin's Creed, I might get a new weapon that feels much like the old weapon and an ability that should've been available from the get-go, because it made an aspect of gameplay decidedly less fun before I acquired it. So much of the time, Assassin's Creed feels like a chore; the activities of Spider-Man aren't fundamentally different, but they feel less like a chore and more like a snack.

henke on 27/7/2025 at 08:14

---

Finished 1000xResist. A story about a bunch of clones living in an underground habitat in a dystopian future. Developed by a 4-person team of Canadian theatre folks, it certainly has a unique feel to it. A game made with more heart than technical skill. It's rough around the edges and struggled to run at 30fps on the Steam Deck, but it was often beautiful to look at thanks to creative lighting, staging and camera work. The gameplay is quite thin. Mostly you're just talking to people, tho it's spruced up with bits of light platforming, hide n seek, and some Tacoma-esque "jumping around in time and piecing together chains of events". The narrative is the real star. Reminded me of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Also reminded me of Disco Elysium in how it feels like a fleshed out world that had existed in the minds of the creators for a long time before they sat down to write the story. It's well told and well paced. My playthrough took 13h, but none of its 10 chapters felt like they outstayed their welcome. Yeah, good game!

Thanks to Jeshibu for giving me a spare key! :)