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zachfett · 2 months

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HELLDIVERS 2 (2024, Arrowhead Game Studios)

I'm loving it so far. Fighting bugs reminds me a lot of EDF and Starship Troopers, while fighting the Automatons reminds me of the future war scenes in Terminator.

I've uploaded a Toggle HUD mod if anyone wants it: https://www.nexusmods.com/helldivers2/mods/1

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solynacea · 17 days

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Games Played in 2024

PART 1: HOME SAFETY HOTLINE

Steam Tags: 1990's, Horror, Interactive Fiction, Point & Click Approx. Playtime: 4.4 Hours General Impression: Mixed Recommend: Maybe

Home Safety Hotline was released on January 16, 2024 by indie developer and publisher Night Signal Entertainment. The premise is simple: you, the player, are a responder for the Home Safety Hotline, a company that deals with home hazards ranging from the normal to the fantastical. In the developer's own words, it was heavily inspired by analogue horror series such as Local 58 TV and Gemini Home Entertainment.

[Spoilers below the cut.]

The gameplay of this game is defined by a simple loop. Log on to your terminal, check your emails, watch any new videos that have appeared on your desktop, and then launch the HSH program. Once you have clocked in for your shift, you will take a number of calls from customers; each call acts as a riddle, and you must find the answer hidden in one of the Home Hazard entries within the database. There are two endings to the game, but we'll get to those later.

To start, it's clear that a lot of love and attention went into crafting each of the entries in the database. In the artbook unlocked by clearing the game, the developer showcases early concepts and talks about their design process, mentioning specifically how they would spend so much time painting creatures only to have the details blurred and lost due to the high compression needed to replicate a 1990's-era computer display. Each entry, from the mundane like House Flies to the mystical like the Dorcha, showcase a love for storycrafting and an attention to detail that's incredible.

It's also clear, even without the developer's own admission, that this game is heavily inspired by analogue horror, particularly Gemini Home Entertainment. The videos that unlock through the game all have the same distinct feeling of Gemini Home Entertainment. This is in no-small part due to them falling under the same general "categories": commercials interrupted by mysterious announcements, old educational videos with an unsettling twist, and hiking advertisements that warn about something lurking in the dark. From the analogue overlays to the soundtrack, these videos pay an homage to Gemini Home Entertainment while managing to be entirely original, a remarkable feat.

However, the developer's attention to detail—and there's quite a bit of detail, given just how many database entries the player will have unlocked by the end—highlights the core issue with the game, and one that many players have highlighted when leaving reviews:

The story itself is lackluster, with endings that feel abrupt and unrewarding.

As a disclaimer, I myself truly enjoyed working through the riddles presented by each caller and delving through the database for all of the little bits of lore I could find. Finding mentions of the ones who dwell above and below the soil in entries for creatures like moles and bats, feeling the resignation about the fate met by those stalked by the Dorcha, and listening to callers who had only made their situations worse by ignoring previous advice was fantastic. I truly felt like a beleaguered call-center employee dealing with things I didn't quite understand, guided only by an enigmatic and at times annoyingly cheerful supervisor.

That's why, when I cleared the game with a high enough accuracy and managed to pass the final day without answering a call incorrectly, I was disappointed by the ending I was presented with.

As stated previously, there are two endings to this game, both based on the player's ability to correctly answer the "riddles" of each day.

The good ending is obtained by maintaining at least 60% or higher each day and correctly answering each of Sunday's riddles. This requires the player to have at least skimmed each of the database's entries, as the database begins to corrupt on later days and is entirely inaccessible on the last.

Note: You might be able to bypass the 60% requirement for Monday-Saturday if you complete Sunday correctly, but I was only able to get the good ending by doing both.

In the good ending, the player is guided beneath the earth and out to the other side, where they are greeted by their supervisor, Carol, now in her true form as a fae entity. She greets the player and tells them not to be afraid before bequeathing them a simple crown and proclaiming them the new Junior Supervisor of Home Safety Hotline. As the credits roll, a myriad of fae folk emerge from the trees and begin singing in celebration of the player's promotion.

The bad ending is obtained incorrectly answering each of Sunday's riddles. It's actually quite easy to get this ending: simply select an incorrect response to every call you receive and Carol will, with great disappointment (and possibly resentment), turn you into a mouse.

Both endings utilize real footage, though it is also compressed to remain within the game's aesthetic.

Of the two, the bad ending is perhaps the most fully fleshed out within the game itself. From the first day, the player is greeted with almost unintelligible emails from a former employee littered with spelling mistakes caused, as you later find out, by him being a mouse forced to hop across the keyboard to type. This former employee invites the player to the safety of their hole and warns them of the danger before disappearing after the office acquires Whiskers the cat. A reoccurring prank caller is interrupted and begins squeaking after Carol "deals with him." There is also a video about a new, incredibly intelligent breed of mouse with strange-colored eyes whose noises translate to a plea for help.

The good ending, on the other hand, has very little set-up aside from the coupons that the player can earn by completing each day with at least 90% accuracy. On a replay, it's clear that these coupons are for the acquisition of items that a fae might find useful, and eagle-eyed players might realize that the Glamour Stone necklace awarded for Saturday is the same that Carol has been wearing from the start. There is also Carol's slow slide into using more archaic speech and mentions of the player being watched and evaluated for some purpose. However, when compared to the bad ending (particularly, if you decided to aim for low accuracy on all days, the actual consequences of your failure being reinforced by follow-up calls), the good ending feels tacked on.

Part of this can be explained by the creator's own comments on the matter. In the artbook, they state that while the game was being playtested before release, numerous people complained that the good ending felt weak when compared to the bad ending. The coupons were added in as a last minute attempt to flesh it out, but it's obvious that the bad end—even if never outright stated as such—is the one that players are expected to acquire.

In summary: Home Safety Hotline is an interesting dive into the blending of analogue and digital horror, created by someone passionate about both analogue horror and fae folklore. It has its pitfalls, but is ultimately short enough that these pitfalls are easily overlooked in favor of the aesthetic and truly impressive world-building. I would recommend this to anyone who likes analogue horror with the caveat that the endings are overlooked and treated as add-ons rather than part of the core experience.

#game review #hsh #home safety hotline #witch speaks #2024 games

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soundofseclusion · 2 months

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7. Mario vs. Donkey Kong

Release: 2024, Switch (2004, GBA) Beaten: February 21st Playtime: 4h 20m (Main Story)

I don't anticipate I'll have much more to say about Mario vs. DK after I 100% the game, so I'm just going to go ahead and post this now and update later with the 100% playtime (and I guess any other thoughts I have).

The game is good fun, not doing anything too spectacular but still feeling really solid. I don't exactly understand why they remade this game, and I don't think I'm particularly feeling like it needed or deserved a remake even after playing it, but I also don't think it's a bad remake or a bad game or anything like that. As someone who never finished the original but liked what I had played, the remake filled a good role for me in allowing me to finish it with a fresh coat of paint and a modern-day perspective. For people who are not totally sold on the concept, didn't like the original, or have played the original to completion, you're probably not going to get anything out of this release. It's fun, but not a must-buy.

#MT24 February #media thread 2024 #media thread #2024 games

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scaringspiders · 18 days

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What I Played in March 2024

I have a confession to make: I did not play that many games this month. I participated in the playing of video games as a hobby about as much as I would any other month, but as far as new games are concerned, I flopped dramatically. March was the month where I tried to blast through the huge open world games and RPGs I’ve managed to accumulate this year, so I ended up spending an awful lot of…

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#2024 Games #dragons dogma 2 #Final Fantasy VII Rebirth #monthly roundup #ori and the will of the Wisps #rise of the Ronin #secrets of Grindea #Video Games

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artistkaila17 · 2 days

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2024 COZY GAMES 💖🎮🍃 [That I also want to play.]

#cozy games #2024 #2024 games #video games #mobile gaming #mobile games #pc games #game recommendations #artist #gaming #gamergirl

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modi-favorite-list · 1 month

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Alina of the Arena

#★★★★☆#2024 games #2024 #games

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jasonnally · 1 month

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OUTCAST - A NEW BEGINNING, PS5 Gameplay First Look (Now Available)

#youtube #PlayStation #PSN #Games #New Games 2024 #2024 Games #PSN Games #OUTCAST #Outcast - A New Beginning #outcast a new beginning #THQ Nordic #PlayStation Games #PlayStation 5 #PS5 #Sandbox Strategies #Ad #VSDC Video Editor

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techdriveplay · 2 months

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What We Know About the PS5 Pro

In the world of gaming, the anticipation for the next big leap in console technology continually builds. Among the forefront of these advancements is the rumored PS5 Pro, a potential successor to Sony’s highly acclaimed PlayStation 5. This enhanced version promises to push the boundaries of what gamers can expect in terms of performance, graphics, and overall gaming experience. As whispers of its…

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icyfiretraveler · 2 months

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+----THIS GAME IS 18+ MINORS DNI ---+

TITLE: "Mylene and the Lust Temple"

RELEASED: Feb 1, 2024

GENRE: non-con eroge

Strange and fun short non-con game!

Mylene is a low power, low confidence magician who learns hidden magick to drain magical power from sexual desire. She uses this gift to travel to a sealed nearby temple and find a cure for her daddy's terminal ilness.

Battles are bonking into others, it costs mp, but there is no turn based system. There's optional requests with the magician's guild and some optional scenes along the way!

I had fun, i'd definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys f/m non-con games!

#game recommendations #2024 games #eroge recommendations

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hardcoregamer · 3 months

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Video Game Release Dates in 2024

Suffice it to say, there will be plenty of gaming goodness to keep track of in 2024 and to help you do so, we’ve compiled a list of every notable game that we can think of coming out this year. Since you never know when a delay will pop up, we’re only listing games with concrete release dates and we’ll do our best to update this list whenever new games are announced or currently-announced games receive release dates, so be sure to check back often!

Have a look!

#2024 games #2024 video games #video game release #release date #new games

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zachfett · 4 days

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Dead Island 2 (2023, Dambuster Studios)

Bought it yesterday since it finally came to Steam and I'm loving it so far, well worth the wait! I'm really impressed with how photorealistic it looks at times, and how well it's running without even using FSR.

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virtualrealitynewstoday · 3 months

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探索未來之都 - Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye正式登陸Steam和Quest Store現已販售！

Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye，一款由Peanut Button開發的冒險遊戲，現已在Steam和Quest Store上架！這款遊戲將帶您深入陰影之中，充滿危險，每一步都將使您走向瘋狂的邊緣。在這個充滿霓虹燈光的街道上，您將扮演機器人偵探菲利普·洛格（Philip Log），尋找自動化的女性致命誘惑者珍妮·蒙塔吉（Jenny Montage），並參與這個充滿泥濘的末日後世界的故事。 Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye為您帶來全新的獨立史詩故事，解開陰險的謎團，使用您的延伸臂解開機器城市的秘密。本遊戲的故事背景設定在《Retropolis的秘密》中的事件之後一年，繼續講述了堅強的機器人偵探菲利普·洛格和自動化的女性致命誘惑者珍妮·蒙塔吉的故事，她總是難以擺脫麻煩。 Retropolis 2: Never Say…

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#2023 New Game Release #2024 games #2024 vr games #2024 vr news #虛擬實境 #虛擬實境遊戲 #虛擬實境資訊 #虛擬實境新聞 #META #Quest 3 #quest store #Retropolis 2: Never Say Goodbye #steam vr #vr #vr game #vr games #vr nes #vr news #vr news today

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soundofseclusion · 3 months

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5. Turnip Boy Robs a Bank

Release: 2024, PC/Switch/Xbox One Beaten: January 27th, Xbox Series S (Game Pass) Playtime: 6h 49m (100%)

Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, the sequel to Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion, is a strange game in many ways. Aesthetically and thematically it matches the vibe of the first game, albeit with humor and writing that's just a little bit tighter. Mechanically, it is considerably different from its predecessor, focusing on a run-based system that relies on a bit of randomization. It pulls off both its tone and its gameplay, for the most part, very well. This review will be long, and Tumblr is letting me implement "read more"s again, so I'm using one here.

I want to hone in on that element of randomness though, because I made the mistake of going into this game expecting it to be constructed like a roguelike. The way the game is actually set up is that there's a consistent map with mostly consistent enemy spawns, but certain locations on the map ("elevators") lead to pre-constructed rooms that will be rolled randomly each time you begin a run anew. These "elevator" rooms seem to be basically a few different levels whose layouts are mostly not randomly generated; the only major element of randomness in terms of navigation is whether the consistently-placed elevator door is going to teleport you to room A or room B. The weapons that drop in each run are an actual element of randomization that feels more akin to a roguelike, but the world itself does not feel random.

So what that leaves is a gameplay loop where you enter the bank on a timer (which can be expanded), and make choices between progressing through the non-changing portions of the bank--consisting of picking up side quests, discovering obstacles which you need to get an item for to progress through in the next run, memorizing the layout for easier navigation, defeating bosses--and entering the randomized elevator rooms that appear in that run. The consistent thing in every run is trying to snag money, which can be done in multiple ways and is pretty fun to minmax. The money can then be used on upgrades and story-progressing items.

I actually ended up liking this core gameplay loop a lot. I found that as time went on, I was able to be more efficient with my time, which felt pretty satisfying. It's overall a pretty well-designed core experience that doesn't get tiring or boring and gives you a lot of things to do during its runtime. It's not designed to be an infinitely replayable game like most roguelikes, but I think it's probably better for that.

There were mainly two things I didn't like. The first was actually a pretty minor gripe, and it was that I went through about 2 hours of gameplay continually checking for a side quest NPC but never getting the elevator room that would take me to interact with them. I couldn't remember what that room looked like, and so I spent a ton of time checking every room that spawned in case it was the one that would house that NPC. It ended up being the final thing I did in the game, and I did spend a good 20 minutes exclusively trying to get that one room to spawn. The reason this is still a "minor" gripe is because, for the most part, I had other things I was completing during the act of looking for this NPC, so I didn't feel like my time was totally wasted. But still, the randomness can sometimes be to the game's detriment.

The other thing is a major gripe, and it's the ending of the game. The only spoilers I'll be providing here are spoilers about the mechanics of the end game segment and why I didn't like it; feel free to skip to the last paragraph if you want to avoid that.

The "story" ending itself was fine. Pretty good even, I'd say. Gameplay-wise, it fucking sucks. You're expected to do a boss rush, which in the case of this game, consists of navigating through four corners of the map and defeating each boss located there. It's not as simple as "fight boss 1, fight boss 2." You have to actually navigate through rooms filled with enemies and obstacles to get to each of those boss fights. On its own, that boss rush isn't that bad, and actually becomes kind of fun as it tests your knowledge of the map layout, a skill you've honed naturally throughout normal gameplay.

Unfortunately, the boss rush is followed by a chase sequence in a new but equally large version of the bank that again asks you to navigate to each of the four corners of the map. The chase sequence involves attacks that basically take out a third of your health if you get hit by them, alongside tanky, new enemies and strange terrain. Again, on its own, this is fine. But if you die during this phase, you have to redo the boss rush again on the next run, meaning you need to redo a reasonably difficult thing that takes about ten minutes before every attempt at the final boss chase sequence. It's weirdly punishing in a way that feels deliberate and I think it was a pretty bad choice.

But like, okay, I still ended up really liking my time with the game. I was salty about the end game for a bit, but after some rumination, I don't think it ruins the experience. I also have a feeling that ending is going to get patched to be easier at some point in the future, because it seems like a pretty obvious misstep. All in all, yes, I'd recommend Turnip Boy Robs a Bank if you're a fan of the first game. If you've never played the first game, I think they're both worth checking out, but this one is a vastly superior game.

#MT24 January #media thread #media thread 2024 #2024 games #games writing #also fun fact #the original turnip boy was my 5th game of 2023 #now this is my 5th of 2024

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scaringspiders · 15 days

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REVIEW: Dragon's Dogma 2

In a lot of games, especially role-playing games, the aim is to make the experience feel like an adventure. Games are often structured to suit this, sending the player across its fictional world, visiting towns, cities, ruins and so on, to evoke this sense of scale that wouldn’t be possible were the story limited to a single setting. Dragon’s Dogma 2 is, first and foremost, a game about…

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#2024 Games #dragons dogma 2 #game review #Video Games

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bottle-of-harpoons · 2 months

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My theory for how Pokemon Z - A will start.

#pokemon #fanart #pokemon fanart #nintendo #game freak #pokemon day 2024 #pokemon presents #arceus #braxien #pokemon serena #arceus can't stop kidnapping children #pokemon z #pokemon z a

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setaflow · 5 months

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Gay pride happens in June and gay wrath happens whenever hbomberguy drops a 3+ hour video essay about a specific topic

#hbomberguy #Just watched the full 4 hour plagiarism video and go OFF you funky bisexual king #Also I feel like people casually mention that Internet Historian and that Blare chick should've gotten mentioned more but honestly #Good on him for taking down Luke Stephens too-- who is now afaik a huge channel for video game news #So anyway video good go watch it and go support queer content creators who are not James Somerton :)#See y'all in 2024 when he drops a 5 hour essay on Onion farming or whatever #Seta speaks #top posts #5k #10k

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