StrixLiterata

Just coming here to say y'all are probably regretting your words after Homeworld 3

Played it. Got bored very quickly. I liked Bomber Crew better

This game manages to create slow-burn horror by keeping you busy with life sim tasks while the spookies sneak up on you.

I was having fun with it for several dozen hours but towards the middle I dropped it: at a certain point upgrading just takes too much time.

The absence of women might be a deliberate decision from the king: they are valuable to the male prisoners, so he might want to send in female convicts only as very valuable "supplies" to keep the camp leaders contented. He might also wish for the convicts not to have children, so as to prevent them from forming a true, sustainable society that might grow self-sufficient and stop trading ore for supplies.

Bows becoming powerful only after a while is weirdly realistic: they are a difficult weapon to learn, which is why crossbows, being much easier to operate, were such a big deal.

I need to add Wrath: Aeon of Ruin to the list, because holy shit the things you can do in some levels by Blade-Dashing...

I'm playing the complete version now, and my love for the game has redoubled: that charged attack with the blade can get you in some truly goofy places if you're creative and stubborn with it; it's supposed to only give you a horizontal boost, but if you jump against a wall, blade-dash while looking 45° up and crouch in midair, you can get over some walls that are supposed to be too tall for you. You can even sequence break some levels with it's creative application. And the best part? The devs took it into account, because I've found hidden tresures like this. I'm almost done with act 1 and so far the Black Priory - the arguably last level of that hub - is the best in that regard: it has the most intricate, looping structure of all that came before, while also looking like an actual place unlike the previous levels, and it's sprawling verticality means that you can skip huge combat section with canny jumping.

This is exactly what Ross warned against, regarding kids growing up with the idea that buying isn't owning

so much promise, but WAAAY too much jank. The Soulslike version of Well of Souls

Loved this game to bits. If you were intrested in Suless Sea/Sky but thought it wasted to much time, this is the game for you: way tighter and snappier.

Lords of the Fallen (2014) is mediocre, but Lords of the Fallen (2023) is actually really good and solves several endemic problems of the Soulslike genre: ranged and magic builds are generally viable and fun to play, the umbral plane mechanic makes exploration deeper and death less frustrating, and it looks really good too. People who love Dark Souls mostly for the story will be disappointed by LotF's shallower approach, but other people might find it refreshingly straightforward.

Not only is this a game I think Ross would love, given his tastes, but I also think it would make a great episode for the Game Dungeon. Seriously Ross, play it as soon as possible, I'll wager that you'll give it a rating of Godd/Great at least, or I'll eat my own hair like spaghetti.

Hey Ross, since you like somewhat dark stories, scenic vistas of mountains and forests, first person shooters with levels that loop in on themselves, and leaving behind a trail of NON RESPAWNING corpses as you strike against the forces of hell, I think you'd like to try Northern Journey. Unless you have arachnophobia, then it's a horror game that kills you in real life.

I'm alternatively playing Tunic and Northern Journey. Tunic can be a bit frustrating at times, but the basic gameplay is solid: a good mix of Zelda and Souls that's more Metroidvania than either; and having most of the game being written in a made up language is really making my working my brain, making me cross-match different sentences to identify common words and filling my room with string and notes like I'm an old school conspiracy theorist. Northern Journey is a truly unique beast as well, and I think it would be good material for the Game Dungeon too, unless Ross is arachnophobic.

I'm up for it. Can you send me the latest build?

I mean where he asked for art to put in the intro and specified the criteria for it

Yes, for some reason a lot of people seem to think that AI will inevitably progress towards a type of intelligence similar to ours, but since the human brain and AI develop(ed) under very different pressures, it seems obvious to me that they will be very different, unless an AI is made for the explicit purpose of predicting all facets of the behaviour of an individual human. This is why I'm not worrying about an "AI rebellion": a human wants to be free because we are social animals and therefore instinctively preoccupied with social standing. An AI, however unpredictable, exists on a fundamental level to achieve a certain result

Question: where can I find the thread about Ross asking for art for the Game Dungeon Intro? I'd like to contribute but searching for the topic or in the birthday thread yielded me nothing

Speaking as someone who never played Quake before this game, I liked the pacing and all the hidden nooks reachable with careful platforming, but I wish more levels looped in on themselves to form a cohesive, almost believable whole

I liked yeeting enemies with the heavy attack from the frost Greatsword. I hated having invincible enemies that constantly harass you

Sometimes, you feel like Factorio but don't have several days to devot to creating a while factory. This game scratches that itch perfectly

I feel better about myself knowing I exist specifically to piss off a sentient planet. Eat shit Melagio, you misanthropic rock

The demo left me with a good impression: the world really is very interesting, and while combat and stealth are simplistic by themselves, the fact you use either approach in any individual encounter makes progression more interesting. Can't wait to see if the magic is good

Kinda nice, but the Demo didn't really leave me wanting more