Sulphur on 22/2/2023 at 03:22
I'm probably picking up Qud in the next sale, actually, as a sort of getting-my-toes-wet deal before I try Fortress of the Dwarven. Which might be giving short shrift to it, but if I get stuck in, I might never leave, so who knows!
demagogue on 22/2/2023 at 07:01
There's a great episode in the DF team's podcast where they talk with the CoQ devs. They're definitely on the same weird wavelength -- (
https://www.bay12games.com/media/Dwarf_Fortress_Talk_26.mp3)
They remind me of the way somebody from Origin once talked about the vibe back when devs were more like hobbiests wiring their own Ham radios than professional software engineers. The pinnacle project for them was "simulating the world" ... water that flows, fire that spreads, trees you can climb, and that ultimate test of all simulationist tests: working ropes in all the different ways that ropes can work! These two games are like the modern incarnation of that. It's a certain personality type, the kind that's going to be fascinated when all the systems start interacting with each other in unexpected ways and suddenly you have drunk cats puking up the hallways.
Starker on 22/2/2023 at 15:14
I mean, roguelikes always kind of tended to have that... "dev team thinks of everything" / "everything but the kitchen sink" vibe. Kitchen sink games like DF and CoQ are just a natural evolution of that.
Aja on 22/2/2023 at 17:22
Quote Posted by Anarchic Fox
My own platonic ideal requires a simulationist core, which is why I go with Caves of Qud.
Aja and Thirith, did y'all finish Disco Elysium? Is it safe to talk about what displeased me?
I haven't yet, no. I have to be in a specific mood to really get into it, so it's been a bit sporadic.
Thirith on 22/2/2023 at 21:14
I've finished it twice.
henke on 23/2/2023 at 06:12
Fox, if you're gonna talk about it, use spoiler tags. Just because I said I wasn't gonna finish it doesn't mean I'm not gonna finish it. C'mon! In fact I played a bit more of it last night. Good game.
Thirith on 23/2/2023 at 07:51
(
https://www.ttlg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=150139) There is the
Disco Elysium thread as well. It's not been posted in for a while, but if anyone wants to discuss the game, that might be the best place, to avoid people being spoiled here.
Sulphur on 25/2/2023 at 07:40
Quote Posted by Thirith
Practically done with
Pentiment. Last light I found out who the
Thread-Puller is, and while it looks like the game doesn't have, or give, clear-cut answers with respect to the
identity of the killers, I think it does so in ways that are fair, reasonable and in line with the game's themes. Curious to see what's left in terms of an epilogue.
Just finished it myself, and I thought it
was made explicitly clear that the same person killed the baron and Otto. It's actually a major point, because it rounds out some of the angst and guilt Andreas is feeling, though the game doesn't go into what the revelation means for him, because it would probably kill some of the pacing. And anyway, at that point it's also Magdalena's story.Quote:
It's absolutely a game that won't be for everyone, and it will suffer from people having the wrong impression: in terms of player agency, it's closer to something like a visual novel than, say,
Disco Elysium by way of
The Name of the Rose. But it's a unique, fascinating and beautifully written game, with some of the best character writing in a game that I've seen in ages.
Yeah, I have to say that while the premise is clearly constructed to hook a player with a fun elevator pitch (investigate a murder in 16th century Bavaria on the eve of a religious revolution), the game's real deal is rooting yourself to that small town, getting to know its people and their stories, growing to love the place along the way, and watching (with more than a little heartbreak in my case
about the abbey) as events change it and its people over the years. It's not an exciting game, but if you go in accepting that it's trying to tell you a richly painted story about a specific time and a specific place, you'll enjoy it far more.
The thing Pentiment reminds me most of is A Canticle for Leibowitz, both in terms of story and structure (minus the post-apocalyptic spin of course). And you know, I think it's fantastic the two can be compared - it makes for a lovely companion piece/counterpoint - so if anyone likes Pentiment, please read that book too.
Thirith on 25/2/2023 at 11:10
Quote Posted by Sulphur
Just finished it myself, and I thought it
was made explicitly clear that the same person killed the baron and Otto. It's actually a major point, because it rounds out some of the angst and guilt Andreas is feeling, though the game doesn't go into what the revelation means for him, because it would probably kill some of the pacing. And anyway, at that point it's also Magdalena's story.If so, I missed that bit. It's clear that
the same person is responsible overall, but I didn't get the impression that he killed these people - unless I misunderstand what you're saying here.Quote:
The thing Pentiment reminds me most of is A Canticle for Leibowitz, both in terms of story and structure (minus the post-apocalyptic spin of course). And you know, I think it's fantastic the two can be compared - it makes for a lovely companion piece/counterpoint - so if anyone likes Pentiment, please read that book too.
That book's popped up on my radar frequently but I've yet to read it. I think I might take your mention of it as the final nudge that'll finally get me to do it.
Sulphur on 25/2/2023 at 11:19
Quote Posted by Thirith
If so, I missed that bit. It's clear that
the same person is responsible overall, but I didn't get the impression that he killed these people - unless I misunderstand what you're saying here.Quote:
That book's popped up on my radar frequently but I've yet to read it. I think I might take your mention of it as the final nudge that'll finally get me to do it.
It's a great read. While Pentiment has more obvious nods to The Name of the Rose (I think? That's one I haven't read which I now want to) and overall historical richness, I think the major themes of both Pentiment and ACfL intersect quite nicely.
